Earnings

Name: Earnings

Topic: Labour market and earnings

Division for Labour Market and Wage Statistics.

National, county and municipality level.

Frequency: Annual, with November as the reference month. The statistics include only jobs that are active during the week including November 16th, normally the third week of the month.

Timeliness: The statistics are published in February of the following year.

• European Statistical Office (Eurostat). Council Regulation (EC) No 530/1999 concerning statistics on the structure of earnings and labour costs, as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006. Reporting takes place within 18 months after the end of the reference year.
• Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
• International Labour Organization (ILO).

Collected and revised data are stored securely by Statistics Norway in compliance with applicable legislation on data processing.

Statistics Norway can grant access to the source data (de-identified or anonymised microdata) on which the statistics are based, for researchers and public authorities for the purposes of preparing statistical results and analyses. Access can be granted upon application and subject to conditions. Refer to the details about this at Access to data from Statistics Norway.

The system for assuring the quality of Norwegian official statistics is based on quality requirements in the Statistics Act and in the European Statistics Code of Practice.The annual report on the quality of official statistics assesses compliance with the quality requirements for all official statistics as a whole.

The National programme for official statistics sets the framework for the areas Statistics Norway and other public authorities produce statistics on. The programme defines and outlines official statistics.

Further information about the system for quality in official statistics can be found at ssb.no.

The purpose of the statistics is to provide an overview of the level of earnings and changes in earnings for all jobs (employment relationships), regardless of industry affiliation and working hours.

The earnings statistics are based on a full count from the A-ordningen. Established in 2015, the A-ordningen is a joint reporting system for all entities that pay wages, pensions, and other benefits. The system is based on monthly reporting of employment, earnings, and benefit information through the A-melding. Statistics Norway receives these data monthly from the Norwegian Tax Administration, which administers the scheme on behalf of the three partner agencies: the Norwegian Tax Administration, the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV), and Statistics Norway.

The statistics were established in 1997 and were originally based on sample surveys in the private sector and register information in the public sector. There are two breaks in the earnings statistics time series, in 2008 and 2015.

• 1997–2008: The earnings statistics were based on the previous Norwegian Standard Industrial Classification (SN2002). Tables covering this period are available as discontinued series in StatBank Norway.
• 2008–2015: From 2009 onwards, the new Norwegian Standard Industrial Classification (SN2007) was adopted. The figures for 2008 were recalculated according to the new classification. For 2015, the statistics were based on information from the A-ordningen. However, to ensure comparability with 2014, the figures were compiled using a sample of enterprises from the A-ordningen, applying the same sampling model that had been used in the earnings statistics up to and including 2014. These series are available as discontinued series in StatBank Norway. Up to and including 2014, data were collected electronically from a sample of enterprises in the private sector and through full-count administrative registers in the public sector. From 2015 onwards, the private-sector sample survey and the public-sector registers were replaced by the A-ordningen.
• 2015–: From 2015 onwards, the statistics have been based on a full count from the A-ordningen. Consequently, new time series with 2015 as the base year were established in StatBank Norway. There is also a break in the time series related to occupational information, as the new series are based on the revised occupational classification Standard Classification of Occupations (STYRK-08). Employers report occupation information according to the previous occupational classification (STYRK-98), after which Statistics Norway converts the information to the current standard. Further information on the break in the time series is provided under Production.

Major users include the Technical Reporting Committee on the Income Settlements (TBU), several ministries, Norges Bank, research and analytical institutions, employee and employer organisations, Eurostat, the media, the business sector, and the general public.

The statistics are also used as input to other statistics produced by Statistics Norway, including the Labour Accounts.

No external users have access to statistics before they are released at 8 a.m. on ssb.no after at least three months’ advance notice in the release calendar. This is one of the most important principles in Statistics Norway for ensuring the equal treatment of users.

Differences from and relationship to the statistics "Number of Employments and Earnings"

The annual earnings statistics are closely linked to the quarterly statistics Number of Employments and Earnings. Both statistics are based on data from the A-ordningen, and the reported earnings information is subject to the same validation and editing procedures in both statistics (see Data collection, editing and calculations).

The earnings concept basic monthly earnings is directly comparable between the annual and quarterly earnings statistics, whereas the level and development of monthly earnings are not. The reason is that irregular payments and bonuses are calculated as an average over the year in the annual earnings statistics, while the average in the quarterly statistics is calculated only for the current quarter.

Both statistics also use the concept of jobs (employment relationships), but the definitions are not identical. The statistics Number of Employments and Earnings provide the most complete figures on the number of jobs. The main difference is that the latter also includes jobs where types of earnings not covered by the earnings concepts used in the earnings statistics have been paid, as well as certain groups that did not receive earnings during the reference month.

These groups include persons receiving benefits from the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV) that replace earnings, such as sickness benefits, parental benefits and pregnancy benefits, as well as persons on unpaid leave or temporary layoff with an expected duration of less than 90 days.

The annual earnings statistics include only active employment relationships with earnings paid during the reference month. The population is defined with the purpose of measuring earnings rather than the number of jobs. Consequently, the earnings statistics include only jobs where earnings have been paid according to the earnings concepts used in the statistics, namely fixed salaries, hourly wages, fixed supplements, irregular payments and/or bonuses. The figures reported in the earnings statistics should therefore not be interpreted as a measure of the total number of jobs within occupational groups, industries, sectors or other classifications.

Differences from and relationship to the Register-based Employment Statistics

The Register-based Employment Statistics, which are one of the sources for statistics on the number of employed persons, are also based on data from the A-ordningen. In addition, these statistics include self-employed persons but are limited to residents aged 15–74 years.

Differences from and relationship to the National Accounts

The National Accounts produce statistics on accrued annual earnings based on data from the A-ordningen. This concept is closely related to annual earnings in the earnings statistics but differs in some respects. The National Accounts record earnings according to when they are earned (accrued), whereas the earnings statistics record earnings according to when they are paid.

The main source of difference is back payments resulting from wage settlements that are delayed and paid in a subsequent year (see Annual earnings under Definitions of key concepts and variables).

Unlike the earnings statistics, the National Accounts also include foreign employees in international shipping. The population in the National Accounts consists of all employees in enterprises included within the production boundary for Norway, that is, all employees who contribute to value creation in the Norwegian economy.

The statistics are developed, produced and disseminated pursuant to Act no. 32 of 21 June 2019 relating to official statistics and Statistics Norway (the Statistics Act).

Regulation (EC) No 530/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning statistics on the structure of earnings and labour costs, as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1893/2006.

Annual series for monthly earnings in November are available from 2015 onwards, and annual series for monthly earnings of apprentices in November are available from 2017 onwards. Monthly earnings by detailed working-time arrangements in November are available from 2016 onwards. Annual series for accrued annual earnings are available from 1970 onwards.

Discontinued annual series are available from 1991 onwards.

Statistics Norway's earnings statistics are compiled in accordance with European regulations on earnings statistics, while also meeting national needs related to, among other things, wage negotiations.

The reporting unit in the earnings statistics is the enterprise. Each enterprise comprises one or more establishments (local units), which are classified by sector according to the Classification of Institutional Sectors and by industry according to the Norwegian Standard Industrial Classification (SN2007). The unit of analysis in the statistics is jobs (employment relationships) by establishment. An employee may have several jobs (employment relationships) in different establishments, but jobs within the same establishment are aggregated into a single job (employment relationship). Consequently, the number of jobs exceeds the number of employees in the population.

The population in the earnings statistics is closely linked to who actually receives earnings during a given period. What is defined as earnings is therefore a key factor in understanding the population covered by the statistics. The earnings concept is limited to cash payments for agreed work. The statistics do not include benefits in kind, insurance benefits, non-taxable expense reimbursements or similar payments.

Furthermore, the cash amount is limited to payments made for the job or position to which they relate. Consequently, cash payments such as severance pay, board fees, fees for participation in councils or committees, and acting allowances are not included in the earnings concept. Overtime pay is included in the statistics as a separate earnings variable but is not included in monthly earnings.

There are otherwise no restrictions based on characteristics of the employee, such as working hours, main or secondary job, resident or non-resident status, age, occupation, temporary employment status or similar characteristics. Self-employed persons are not included.

The population is limited to jobs (employment relationships) that meet the following criteria:

1. The employee must be registered as employed during the reference week in November, which is the reference month.
2. Earnings must have been paid in the employment relationship during the reference month in the form of fixed salary, hourly wages, fixed supplements, irregular payments and/or bonuses.

The reference week is the week containing the 16th day of the month, which is normally the third week of November.

Practical challenges in defining the population are largely related to determining the type of earnings paid in the employment relationship during the reference month and assessing this information together with information about the employment relationship itself. In particular, it is necessary to determine whether the employee was employed, performed work, and received earnings through the employment relationship during the reference month.

From 2015 onwards, the statistics have been based on data from the A-ordningen. The A-ordningen is a coordinated reporting system for earnings and employment information submitted to the Norwegian Tax Administration, the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (NAV), and Statistics Norway, regulated by the A-opplysningsloven (A-ordningen Reporting Act). Data are collected electronically.

All employers with employees are required to submit an A-melding each month containing information on employment relationships, earnings, taxes and social security contributions. The data therefore cover all jobs, and consequently all employees, in enterprises with establishments in Norway.

In addition to data from the A-ordningen, several administrative registers are used and linked to the A-ordningen data. These data are used to add further information, ensure consistency across data sources, identify the main job, classify persons as employed, and improve data quality. The most important sources are:

• The Central Register of Establishments and Enterprises (CRE) maintained by Statistics Norway, which provides information about the establishments where employees work, including industry, sector code, legal form and municipality.
• Statistics Norway's copy of the National Population Register (FREG), which provides person-related characteristics such as age, sex, country background and immigration category.
• Matrikkelen, which contains information on residential addresses, including statistical basic units, municipalities and other geographical information.
• The National Education Database (NUDB), which provides information on the highest completed level of education and the date of completion.
• NAV's labour market register (Arena), which contains information on registered jobseekers. These are classified into ordinary jobseekers, including fully unemployed persons, participants in labour market programmes and partially employed persons, as well as persons with reduced work capacity.
• The Register of Assignments and Employment Relationships (OAR), which contains information on assignments and subcontracts awarded to enterprises domiciled abroad or to persons resident abroad, provided the value exceeds NOK 20,000. The register includes information such as start and end dates of employment relationships and the municipality of the workplace.
• The Conscription Register, administered by the Norwegian Armed Forces Personnel and Conscription Centre (FPVS), which contains information on all conscripts in the Armed Forces, including dates of enrolment and discharge.

Up to and including 2014, data were collected electronically from a sample of establishments in the private sector and from administrative registers in the public sector. Information was collected on, among other things, agreed earnings, bonuses, irregular payments and working hours for individual employees.

Data collection

The statistics do not have a separate data collection process but are based on a number of administrative registers. Statistics Norway receives data from the A-ordningen on a monthly basis from the Norwegian Tax Administration, which collects and compiles information reported through the A-melding.

The deadline for submitting the A-melding to the Norwegian Tax Administration is the 5th day of the month following the reference month. If the 5th falls on a weekend or public holiday, the deadline is the first working day thereafter. To account for replacement reports and delayed submissions, data are transferred to Statistics Norway on the 10th of each month (up to and including January 2018, data were transferred on the 15th). Statistics Norway receives all new reports submitted since the previous data transfer.

For information on other important data sources, see Data sources and sampling.

Editing

Editing refers to the checking, review and correction of data.

Within the A-ordningen, checks are carried out at several stages:

• Business rules (validation checks) applied by the Norwegian Tax Administration.
• Controls in Statistics Norway's production system for earnings and employment statistics.

Business rules in the Norwegian Tax Administration

After an A-melding has been received, a number of business rules are applied to identify errors and missing information in the submitted data. Small and medium-sized reporting units receive feedback within a short time (approximately one minute), while larger reporting units may experience a somewhat longer processing time. The feedback includes all identified deviations, information on where in the report the deviation occurred, and which business rule was violated.

The business rules and error messages are documented on the A-ordningen website: A-meldingen (Skatteetaten.no).

Controls in Statistics Norway's production system

During the production of the statistical data, a number of controls and automated measures are applied to ensure data quality for statistical purposes. Three main types of controls are used:

• Automated controls and corrective measures.
• Monitoring reports.
• Manual controls.

In addition, controls are carried out continuously throughout the year, independent of statistical publications.

Controls aimed at identifying errors and omissions that should be corrected are primarily directed towards jobs (employment relationships).

In the production process, many registered jobs are removed from the statistical population because they are not considered active. This occurs when no earnings have been reported for the job during the reference month. Such cases may include seasonal workers who did not work during the reference month, jobs where a termination date was not reported correctly, or persons incorrectly reported as having an active employment relationship, for example individuals listed as temporary staff who did not perform any work during the period.

The control and editing procedures in the earnings statistics are carried out in several stages, most of which are automated. A range of key variables is checked when data are received from the A-ordningen. Earnings data are subsequently reviewed at both the micro and macro level.

The A-melding is based on the cash principle, meaning that earnings are reported in the month in which they are paid. Consequently, reported earnings may in some cases differ from an employee's agreed monthly earnings. This may occur, for example, when back payments resulting from wage settlements are paid retrospectively. In such cases, Statistics Norway calculates agreed monthly earnings by combining information from several months.

Obvious errors and omissions in earnings reporting are corrected through statistical imputation methods. Values may be imputed using information from previous periods or from a comparable employment relationship or job.

From the publication of the 2020 earnings statistics onwards, a new method for calculating working hours has been applied. The method was implemented retrospectively for all years from 2016 onwards. The main purpose of the method is to adjust agreed working hours for jobs where the reported information on agreed working hours is missing or incomplete. A more detailed description of the method is available in the article referenced above.

More detailed information on data collection and editing procedures is available in Statistics Norway's documentation of the production process for labour market and earnings statistics.

Calculations

As the statistics are based on administrative register data, the measures of volume (jobs with earnings and full-time equivalents/employment relationships) are calculated by counting the number of observations within defined groups.

Earnings levels are presented as averages, medians, quartiles and other distribution measures. Agreed monthly earnings, monthly earnings, irregular payments, bonuses and age are calculated as averages per full-time equivalent, while overtime pay and agreed working hours are calculated per job.

Only jobs with earnings paid according to the earnings concepts used in the earnings statistics at the time of observation are included in the calculation of average earnings.

Not relevant

Interviewers and everyone who works at Statistics Norway have a duty of confidentiality. Statistics Norway has its own data protection officer.

Statistics Norway does not publish figures where there is a risk of identifying individual data about persons, jobs, establishments or enterprises.

The suppression method is used in these statistics to ensure this. If there are fewer than 100 employment relationships for which the earnings has not been imputed, all values for that group are suppressed. This helps safeguard privacy, ensures data quality, and contributes to reducing the costs of producing statistics on earnings by avoiding situations where individual extreme earnings, whether high or low, have an undue influence on the results.

In addition, figures are suppressed when one or a few enterprises are dominant and account for a large share of the jobs (employment relationships) or of the total monthly earnings.

More information can be found on Statistics Norway’s website under Methods in official statistics, in the ‘Confidentiality’ section.

The reference period was changed from September to November with the publication of the 2020 figures. At the same time, the change was applied retrospectively to the years 2016–2019. The figures for 2015 are still based on September as the reference month and on the previous method for calculating working hours. They are therefore not directly comparable with figures from 2016 onwards (see information on the new method for processing working hours below and under Data collection, editing and calculations).

A separate time series with comparable figures up to September 2015 is available in StatBank Norway under Discontinued series. For more information on comparability over time, see Background and purpose.

Earnings figures are partly comparable with those published in the quarterly statistics Number of Employments and Earnings (see Coherence with other statistics).

New method for processing working hours

From the publication of the 2020 figures onwards, a new method for calculating working hours has been used in the statistics. The change was implemented retrospectively back to 2016. The new method affects the distribution of jobs (employment relationships) by working hours and also the calculation of earnings for employees whose working hours are revised.

Municipal and regional reform

From 2020 onwards, the statistics are affected by the municipal and regional reform implemented on 1 January 2020.

Sector

As the statistics cover all jobs with earnings paid, they in principle cover all sectors and industries. Information on sector is based on the Classification of Institutional Sectors and is obtained from the Central Register of Establishments and Enterprises (CRE).

In the parts of the statistics where a sector breakdown is used, the main sector classifications are:

• Central government,
• Local government, and
• Private sector and publicly owned enterprises.

Publicly owned enterprises comprise publicly controlled enterprises that are not included in either central or local government. For a more detailed description of the sector classification, see Sector under Definitions.

Industries

The earnings statistics are classified according to the Norwegian Standard Industrial Classification (SN2007).

The A-ordningen is the main source of the statistics. The quality of the A-ordningen is generally high, but there may still be errors and omissions in the data.

Coverage errors

Coverage errors occur when the population that is measured differs from the population that is intended to be measured. Coverage errors can be either overcoverage or undercoverage.

Overcoverage may occur in the earnings statistics when an employment relationship has ended but receives a payment after termination. In such cases, the employment relationship is no longer active but may nevertheless be included in the earnings statistics.

Undercoverage may occur in the earnings statistics when an employment relationship is classified as inactive because earnings have not been paid in every calendar month. For example, this may occur when the first day of a calendar month (the reporting month) falls on a Sunday. In such cases, the payment is made on the last working day of the previous calendar month and the employment relationship may therefore be recorded as inactive in the following reporting month. Another example of undercoverage is when an employment relationship has started during the reporting period but no earnings have yet been paid.

Errors or omissions in reporting to the A-melding (non-response errors) may also result in coverage errors in the earnings statistics. If an enterprise submits the A-melding too late for inclusion in the data received by Statistics Norway from the Norwegian Tax Administration through the A-ordningen, the employment relationships will not be included in the statistics and will therefore contribute to undercoverage.

No revisions are made to incorporate delayed reports, and data that are not reported within the reporting deadline of the A-ordningen will not be included in the final statistics.

Measurement and processing errors

Errors and omissions may occur when reporting entities misunderstand the reporting requirements and submit incorrect information (measurement errors). Errors may also arise during the processing of data at Statistics Norway (processing errors). One example is Statistics Norway's assessment of which jobs (employment relationships) should be regarded as active. Information on earnings is used as the main criterion.

For the group freelancers/contractors etc. (which also includes board members, elected representatives, foster parents, support contacts, persons receiving care allowances and similar groups), employment relationships are only required to be reported in the A-ordningen when earnings are paid. It is therefore difficult to determine when the work was actually performed, meaning that some persons in this group are not included in the statistics.

The earnings statistics include all jobs (employment relationships) that are active during the reference week and for which earnings are paid during the reference month (November) in one or more of the earnings components included in the statistics. The earnings concept comprises fixed salary, hourly wages, fixed supplements, bonuses and irregular payments.

There is some indication of improved reporting quality in the A-ordningen between 2015 and 2016, although the reporting quality was also considered good in the introductory year (2015).

Register errors may occur when errors or omissions exist in administrative registers linked to the statistical data, resulting in incorrect identification, classification or coding. For example, linkage to the Central Register of Establishments and Enterprises (CRE), which contains information on industry and sector, may lead to establishments being assigned to incorrect categories. Errors or biases in the National Education Database (NUDB) may also affect the statistics.

At detailed regional levels, uncertainty in both the number of jobs (employment relationships) and earnings is generally greater than at more aggregated levels. Several factors may affect the interpretation of changes over time at a detailed level:

• Corrections of reporting errors may result in changes in the number of jobs and earnings that do not reflect actual developments.
• Incorrect allocation of jobs (employment relationships) to establishments with different municipality locations or industries may result in classification to the wrong municipality and/or industry.
• Even when reporting is correct, mergers and splits of establishments may lead to substantial changes at a detailed level.

Non-response

All employers, and all entities that pay wages, pensions or other benefits, are required to submit an A-melding. The reporting threshold is NOK 1,000 per person per year. When payments exceed this threshold, information on both the employment relationship and the earnings paid must be reported through the A-melding. Reporting is required from the month in which the threshold is exceeded and for as long as payments continue.

Failure to submit an A-melding may result in unit non-response in the earnings statistics. Partial non-response in variables collected and used in the statistics can often be derived logically from other reported information or imputed using information from previous periods.

Observations may also be excluded due to missing information and/or incorrect values. In cases of obvious reporting errors, working hours and/or earnings may be imputed using statistical methods.

A revision is a planned change to figures that have already been published, for example when releasing final figures as a follow-up to published preliminary figures. See also Statistics Norway’s principles for revisions.

In the earnings statistics, preliminary figures for annual earnings are published in February. Final figures are released during the first half of March.

For tables that include educational attainment, only aggregated statistics by education level are available on a preliminary basis. Final earnings statistics by education are released in June, as soon as updated education information becomes available (see also Definitions of key concepts and variables).

The data are examined to identify significant errors and omissions that may affect the final release of the statistics. The quality assessment also includes evaluating the extent and concentration of imputations of working hours and earnings.

Chapter 21, Handling of earnings and agreed working hours (github.io), in the Documentation of the production process for the data used in the labour market and earnings statistics describes various internal quality controls and quality assessments carried out for the earnings statistics.