Income and wealth statistics for households

Updated: 21 December 2022

Next update: 19 December 2023

Change in median income after tax for all households

2020 - 2021

0.5

Income after tax for households by type of household, Median¹
	2021	2020 - 2021	2016 - 2021
	After tax median income	Percentage change²
All households	566 300	0.5	1.6
Singles under 45 years	342 600	0.9	7.0
Singles 45-64 years	368 500	0.1	2.4
Singles 65 years and older	296 300	-0.4	2.2
Couples without children, oldest person under 45 years	706 200	0.8	7.4
Couples without children, oldest person 45-64 years	877 100	0.8	5.5
Couples without children, oldest person 65 years and older	635 600	-0.2	1.9
Couples with children 0-6 years	879 900	1.1	5.6
Couples with children 7-17 years	1 013 500	0.7	4.6
Couples with children, oldest child 18 years and older	1 134 700	1.0	5.1
Single mother/father with children 0-17 years	464 500	0.9	3.2
Single mother/father with children 18 years and older	623 200	0.8	4.4
¹Students not included
²In constant prices

Explanation of symbols

Source

StatBank source table 04751

Selected tables and charts from this statistics

Table 1Registered incomes for households by type of household. Average in NOK.

Registered incomes for households by type of household. Average in NOK.^{1 2 3}
	All households	Living alone, person under 30 years	Living alone, person 30-44 years	Living alone, person 45-66 years	Living alone, person 67 years and older	Couple without resident children, oldest person under 30 years	Couple without resident children, oldest person 30-44 years	Couple without resident children, oldest person 45-66 years	Couple without resident children, oldest person 67 years and older	Couples with children 0-5 years	Couples with children 6-17 years	Couples with children 18 years and older	Single mother/father with children 0-5 year	Single mother/father with children 6-17 year	Single mother/father with children 18 year and older	Two or more-familiy households
	2021
Income from work (NOK)	620 300	349 500	428 900	382 600	27 900	769 700	969 400	1 025 200	157 400	999 800	1 328 900	1 313 400	279 800	503 900	617 600	817 400
Wages and salaries (NOK)	583 900	339 700	410 100	360 700	22 700	749 900	933 300	961 700	134 800	947 300	1 244 200	1 230 000	267 900	480 800	584 200	762 600
Net income from self-employment (NOK)	36 400	9 800	18 700	21 900	5 300	19 800	36 100	63 500	22 700	52 500	84 700	83 400	11 900	23 200	33 400	54 700

Property income (NOK)	90 500	16 100	34 300	55 900	37 900	20 500	52 900	199 400	126 800	94 700	163 800	208 400	19 500	49 100	59 600	79 100
Interest received (NOK)	3 400	1 600	1 300	2 000	3 300	4 200	3 700	4 600	7 200	3 200	3 100	5 600	1 100	1 700	3 200	3 800
Share dividends received (NOK)	60 200	10 000	18 400	37 700	17 300	6 900	24 600	146 100	76 500	59 400	120 900	154 200	12 900	33 600	35 400	47 500
Realised capital gains (NOK)	26 300	5 000	15 800	16 500	16 300	9 600	29 200	45 100	40 500	34 500	37 400	47 500	4 700	13 500	20 200	24 700
Realised capital losses (NOK)	6 000	2 000	5 400	4 100	2 200	3 200	11 100	7 800	6 200	10 800	8 400	12 000	1 300	3 100	4 300	6 400
Other capital incomes (NOK)	6 600	1 400	4 100	3 700	3 200	3 100	6 600	11 400	8 900	8 400	10 600	13 200	2 200	3 400	5 100	9 500

Transfers received (NOK)	248 100	50 900	81 100	158 700	353 200	62 800	90 500	262 800	667 100	222 500	148 100	288 100	233 800	161 900	246 600	358 800
Taxable transfers (NOK)	231 300	40 600	73 000	152 400	350 800	45 200	82 000	259 500	663 600	174 100	111 900	277 500	145 500	102 100	232 200	327 900
Social security benefits (NOK)⁴	151 700	24 500	44 000	105 600	271 500	19 900	38 100	153 700	495 000	24 300	56 000	180 700	77 500	62 200	165 900	221 900
Old-age pensions (NOK)	97 100	0	0	10 800	267 800	0	0	39 900	469 200	300	2 800	70 600	100	1 000	62 100	121 900
Disability benefits (NOK)	40 100	13 600	30 700	80 200	3 100	8 400	22 000	93 500	23 300	10 400	32 400	83 200	16 200	33 400	77 300	70 900
Work assessment allowance (NOK)	13 000	10 900	13 200	12 600	200	11 400	16 100	19 700	2 200	12 600	20 200	26 600	19 000	18 600	23 000	24 900
Service pensions etc. (NOK)	33 800	200	700	14 300	74 800	200	800	36 600	140 500	1 400	7 100	33 500	1 100	5 300	25 000	36 300
Contractual pension (NOK)	5 800	0	0	5 700	3 000	0	0	19 700	20 900	0	400	8 600	0	100	3 100	5 500
Contractual pension (AFP) in public sector (NOK)⁵	3 500	0	0	4 100	1 000	0	0	13 100	12 300	0	200	5 100	0	100	1 800	3 400
Contractual pension (AFP) in private sector (NOK)	2 300	0	0	1 600	2 000	0	0	6 600	8 700	0	200	3 500	0	100	1 300	2 100
Unemployment benefits (NOK)	10 200	7 500	13 400	8 700	200	10 200	18 800	13 000	1 700	17 700	14 000	16 700	12 500	9 100	12 900	20 000
Sickness benefits (NOK)⁶	18 800	6 500	12 500	16 500	500	12 900	21 000	34 700	4 400	34 500	31 500	35 700	21 700	22 300	23 300	29 700
Other taxable transfers (NOK)⁷	10 500	1 800	1 900	1 200	800	1 700	2 300	1 100	1 000	95 400	2 100	1 400	32 600	2 900	1 600	13 400

Tax-free transfers (NOK)	16 700	10 300	8 100	6 400	2 400	17 600	8 400	3 300	3 500	48 500	36 200	10 600	88 300	59 800	14 400	30 900
Familiy allowances (NOK)	6 800	100	1 100	500	0	100	500	200	0	28 900	23 000	1 100	31 600	25 600	1 600	10 400
Dwelling support (kr)	1 000	1 400	1 400	1 300	600	600	500	200	100	1 100	700	300	9 900	4 300	1 000	1 100
Scholarships (NOK)	2 200	3 500	400	0	0	13 800	4 400	100	0	3 900	4 200	4 100	4 100	4 000	3 100	7 200
Social assistance (NOK)	2 400	3 900	3 900	3 100	300	1 700	1 600	800	100	3 100	2 200	1 400	16 100	7 500	3 800	3 800
Basic and attendance benefits (NOK)	1 200	400	500	700	700	500	400	700	900	1 500	3 300	1 700	1 900	3 400	1 500	2 300
Cash for care (NOK)	500	0	200	0	0	0	0	0	0	4 900	0	0	3 900	0	0	1 100
Other tax-free transfers (NOK)⁸	2 500	900	600	800	800	1 000	900	1 400	2 400	5 000	2 800	2 100	20 800	15 000	3 400	5 000

Total income (NOK)	958 900	416 500	544 300	597 200	419 000	853 000	1 112 800	1 487 300	951 300	1 317 000	1 640 800	1 809 900	533 100	715 000	923 700	1 255 300

Total assessed taxed and negative transfers (NOK)	253 800	99 300	145 300	166 700	79 300	204 100	301 800	443 200	206 000	352 400	480 100	507 800	102 000	170 600	229 300	305 500
Assessed taxes (NOK)	248 600	97 100	141 100	162 300	79 100	199 100	294 500	434 900	205 000	343 700	469 700	497 800	98 500	165 300	223 600	298 600
Negative transfers (NOK)⁹	5 200	2 200	4 200	4 300	200	4 900	7 300	8 300	1 100	8 800	10 400	10 000	3 500	5 400	5 700	6 900

After-tax income (NOK)	705 100	317 200	399 000	430 500	339 700	649 000	811 000	1 044 100	745 300	964 600	1 160 700	1 302 100	431 100	544 300	694 400	949 800

Number of households	2 499 398	174 265	224 672	332 129	299 043	51 436	71 360	215 260	269 458	220 484	263 152	117 567	22 717	85 116	64 429	88 310
¹Private households consiting of single persons living alone under the age of 18 are not included.
²Couples included married couples, cohabiting couples and registered partners.
³Students not included.
⁴For recipients of new transitional benefits for single mothers/fathers from April 2014, the benefits will be taxed as wage. From the income year 2015, the benefits are included in Social security benefits.
⁵Includes recipients of the former private contractual pension scheme (AFP).
⁶Sickness benfits from the National Insurance Scheme. Holiday payments from sickness benefits are included.
⁷Other taxable transfers include benefits such as parental benefit, annuity, introduction benefits for newly arrived refugees and qualification benefits (from 2008).
⁸Other tax-free transfers benefits such as childcare benefit to single parents, lump sum maternity grants, compensation for work injury, education benefit to single parents and received child support managed by public arrangement. Various benefits received by people attending job creating programs are included from 2009. From 2014, extra compensation for recipients of contractual pension (AFP) is included.
⁹Negative transfers include paid child support managed by public arrangement, paid annuity and mandatory contribution to private pension plan.

Explanation of symbols

Source

StatBank source table 07780

Table 2Measures of income dispersion. Household equivalent income (EU-scale) between persons

Measures of income dispersion. Household equivalent income (EU-scale) between persons¹
	Gini coefficient	Standard error of the Gini coefficient	P90/P10²	S80/S20³	Gini coefficient	Standard error of the Gini coefficient	P90/P10²	S80/S20³
	Total population				Total population excluding persons in student households
1998	0.238	0.003	2.7	3.4	0.233	0.003	2.6	3.2
1999	0.242	0.004	2.7	3.4	0.236	0.004	2.6	3.3
2000	0.262	0.004	2.7	3.7	0.257	0.004	2.6	3.6
2001	0.229	0.002	2.6	3.2	0.223	0.002	2.5	3.1
2002	0.264	0.004	2.7	3.8	0.258	0.004	2.6	3.6
2003	0.274	0.003	2.8	3.9	0.267	0.003	2.7	3.7
2004	0.283	..	2.7	4.1	0.276	..	2.6	3.8
2005	0.327	..	2.8	4.8	0.319	..	2.7	4.5
2006	0.243	..	2.8	3.5	0.235	..	2.6	3.3
2007	0.252	..	2.8	3.7	0.244	..	2.7	3.5
2008	0.248	..	2.8	3.6	0.240	..	2.7	3.4
2009	0.241	..	2.8	3.5	0.231	..	2.6	3.3
2010	0.245	..	2.8	3.6	0.236	..	2.6	3.3
2011	0.247	..	2.8	3.6	0.237	..	2.7	3.4
2012	0.249	..	2.9	3.7	0.239	..	2.7	3.4
2013	0.250	..	2.9	3.7	0.241	..	2.7	3.4
2014	0.256	..	2.9	3.8	0.247	..	2.8	3.5
2015	0.271	..	3.0	4.0	0.263	..	2.8	3.8
2016	0.261	..	3.0	3.9	0.252	..	2.8	3.6
2017	0.261	..	3.0	3.9	0.252	..	2.8	3.6
2018	0.260	..	3.0	3.9	0.251	..	2.8	3.6
2019	0.259	..	3.0	3.9	0.250	..	2.8	3.6
2020	0.262	..	3.0	3.9	0.252	..	2.8	3.6
2021	0.289	..	3.0	4.3	0.279	..	2.8	4.0
¹Negative amounts have been set to zero.
²Percentile ratio of the 9th and the 1st decile cut-offs.
³The ratio of the share of income held by the top 20 per cent of the distribution and the bottom 20 per cent of the distribution.

Explanation of symbols

Source

StatBank source table 07756

Table 3Property account for households

Property account for households^{1 2}
	Average for households with different property holdings (NOK)	Share of households with different property holdings (per cent)	Total (NOK million)	Percentage change (NOK million)
	2021			2020 - 2021
Estimated real capital	4 179 400	84.9	8 865 495	11.4
Estimated market value primary dwelling	4 277 200	69.4	7 416 405	12.1
Estimated market value secondary dwelling	3 281 700	9.9	810 721	7.8
Gross financial capital	1 767 000	98.8	4 364 934	12.9
Bank deposits	596 300	98.8	1 472 580	6.4
Shares and other securities	3 554 900	22.7	2 020 623	12.7
Share savings account³	524 200	26.1	342 255	37.5
Units of mutual funds	252 100	29.5	185 810	23.8
Foreign taxable wealth excl. real properties	465 300	5.8	67 462	18.8
Estimated gross wealth	5 351 400	98.9	13 230 429	11.9
Debt	1 913 400	85.7	4 096 594	4.9
Study debt	273 400	26.2	179 196	8.2
Estimated net wealth	3 684 300	99.2	9 133 834	15.3
Positive net wealth	4 531 400	83.0	9 403 264	14.5
Negative net wealth	-667 000	16.2	-269 430	-6.4
Property taxes	40 400	17.7	17 866	6.7
¹Students not included.
²All wealth items are based on market value or assumed sales value before any tax valuation discount.
³From 2017 it is possible to own listed shares and mutual fund holdings through a share savings account.
Figures for estimated real capital, gross and net wealth were corrected on December 22, 2022.

Explanation of symbols

Source

StatBank source table 10315

Table 4Percentage share of total estimated net wealth, average net wealth and lowest value in decile for households, by deciles

Percentage share of total estimated net wealth, average net wealth and lowest value in decile for households, by deciles¹
	Share of total net wealth (per cent)	Average estimated net wealth (NOK)	Lowest value in decile (NOK)
	2021
Total	100.0	3 654 400	..
Decile 1	-2.8	-1 031 400	..
Decile 2	-0.1	-43 900	-187 800
Decile 3	0.5	165 800	23 400
Decile 4	2.0	734 500	394 300
Decile 5	4.0	1 461 600	1 090 700
Decile 6	6.2	2 248 800	1 841 800
Decile 7	8.6	3 154 300	2 674 000
Decile 8	11.8	4 320 300	3 675 000
Decile 9	16.9	6 193 100	5 063 100
Decile 10	52.9	19 340 900	7 715 100
Top 5 per cent	40.4	29 536 100	11 133 000
Top 1 per cent	23.4	85 516 500	26 075 500
Top 0,1 per cent	12.0	437 343 300	131 321 100
¹Students not included
Figures for estimated real capital, gross and net wealth were corrected on December 22, 2022.

Explanation of symbols

Source

StatBank source table 10318

Table 5Registered incomes for residents. Number of persons with amount. Amount in NOK million.

Registered incomes for residents. Number of persons with amount. Amount in NOK million.
	Number of persons with amount	NOK million	Number of persons with amount	NOK million
	2020		2021
INCOME FROM WORK	3 163 370	1 460 959.8	3 209 569	1 561 362.6
Wages and salaries	3 057 342	1 378 913.0	3 099 337	1 470 158.4
Net income from self-employment	310 727	82 046.7	318 298	91 204.2

PROPERTY INCOME	4 211 434	115 998.7	3 878 478	228 461.2
Interest received	4 193 627	13 742.6	3 698 400	8 725.5
Share dividends received	466 406	66 764.2	617 077	151 660.7
Realised capital gains	444 286	36 916.6	468 007	66 632.9
Realised capital losses	218 456	16 006.7	247 588	15 255.2
Other capital incomes	1 569 836	14 582.0	1 681 134	16 697.4

TRANSFERS RECEIVED	3 391 964	608 124.5	3 450 347	631 297.6
TAXABLE TRANSFERS	2 640 901	561 334.2	2 714 198	584 479.1
Social security benefits¹	1 443 214	361 992.0	1 474 791	384 265.9
Old-age pensions	930 414	231 608.9	948 609	246 335.4
Disability benefits	368 189	96 954.6	371 265	101 455.3
Work Assessment Allowance	165 612	29 649.8	177 121	32 687.6
Service pensions etc	912 653	80 517.1	930 916	85 324.9
Contractual pension (AFP)	131 928	13 287.6	141 696	14 499.1
Contractual pension (AFP) in public sector²	37 867	8 261.1	38 378	8 836.8
Contractual pension (AFP) in private sector	94 078	5 026.5	103 335	5 662.3
Unemployment benefits	495 240	32 431.7	426 547	25 851.5
Sickness benefits³	824 152	46 739.8	957 384	47 098.3
Other taxable transfers⁴	220 928	24 936.4	220 411	26 233.3

TAX-FREE TRANSFERS	1 546 101	46 790.3	1 542 455	46 818.5
Familiy allowances	693 103	16 035.7	693 236	17 134.2
Dwelling support	124 691	3 308.3	117 596	2 735.8
Scholarships	408 235	9 078.8	412 167	9 282.0
Social assistance	122 037	6 728.8	117 243	6 602.7
Basic and attendance benefits	169 275	3 171.4	170 932	3 178.2
Cash for care	38 139	1 450.4	36 225	1 341.2
Other tax-free transfers⁵	280 735	7 016.8	270 794	6 544.4

TOTAL INCOME	4 479 319	2 185 083.0	4 513 627	2 421 121.5

Assessed taxes and negative transfers	3 910 547	561 625.4	3 991 720	637 133.2
Assessed taxes	3 875 256	549 036.9	3 952 800	624 030.2
Negative transfers⁶	1 271 172	12 588.4	1 299 784	13 103.0

AFTER-TAX INCOME	4 479 706	1 623 457.6	4 514 493	1 783 988.3

NUMBER OF RESIDENTS	5 391 369	..	5 425 270	..
¹For recipients of new transitional benefits for single mothers/fathers from April 2014, the benefits will be taxed as wage. From the income year 2015, the benefits are included in Social security benefits.
²Includes recipients of the former private contractual pension scheme (AFP).
³Sickness benfits from the National Insurance Scheme. Holiday payments from sickness benefits are included.
⁴Other taxable transfers include benefits such as parental benefit, annuity, introduction benefits for newly arrived refugees and qualification benefits (from 2008).
⁵Other tax-free transfers benefits such as childcare benefit to single parents, lump sum maternity grants, compensation for work injury, education benefit to single parents and received child support managed by public arrangement. Various benefits received by people attending job creating programs are included from 2009. From 2014, extra compensation for recipients of contractual pension (AFP) is included.
⁶Negative transfers include paid child support managed by public arrangement, paid annuity and mandatory contribution to private pension plan

Explanation of symbols

Source

StatBank source table 07778

More figures from this statistics

See complete overview in Statbank (68)

About the statistics

Income and wealth statistics for households provide figures for the level, composition, development and distribution of income and wealth. The statistics comprises all monetary income, both taxable and tax-exempt, as well as wealth and debt. The statistics presents the general developments of income and wealth as well as its distribution between household types and other groups.

Definitions

Definitions of the main concepts and variables

The concepts presented here are explained according to how they are used in the statistics. These explanations may differ from the common definitions of the concepts.

Household

A household is regarded as all persons who live permanently in the same dwelling and having common housekeeping. The statistics include only persons in private households. Persons registered as living in institutions are not included.

Student household

A student household is defined as a household where the main income earner is not mainly economically active or in receipt of pensions and benefits, but receives a loan from the State Educational Loan Fund.

Main income earner

The main income earner is the person in the household who has the highest total income before taxes of the income earners in the household. If there is no income earner in the household, the oldest person is defined as the main income earner.

Total income

Total income is the sum of employee, income from self-employment, property income and transfers received. Assessed tax and other negative transfers are not deducted.

After-tax income

After-tax income is calculated as total income minus assessed tax and negative transfers.

Income from work

Income from work is the sum of employee income and net income from self-employment during the calendar year. As of 2006 sickness and parental benefits is not included.

Income from self-employment

Income received in self-employment jobs. It primarily concerns the profit or loss from unincorporated enterprises.

Property income

Property income is the sum of interest received, share dividends received, realized capital gains (or losses) and other property income received during the calendar year.

Taxable transfers

Taxable transfers are the sum of pensions and benefits from the social security scheme, public and private employer provided schemes, unemployment benefits, sickness benefits and other taxable benefits.

Tax-free transfers

Tax-free transfers consist of child benefits, dwelling support, scholarships, social assistance, basic and attendance benefit and more.

Child support received through private agreements is not registered, and therefore not included in the statistics.

Assessed taxes and negative transfers

This comprises income tax and wealth tax to the central government and municipalities. Examples of negative transfers are pension contributions in employment and paid child support managed by public arrangement.

Estimated real capital

Estimated value of properties, buildings and constructions, possessions, etc.

Market value is used for primary and secondary dwellings, commercial properties, forests and farms.

Tax value is used for other real estate and private and commercial moveable property.

Primary dwelling

The dwelling where the address of the owner is registered in the National Population Register at the end of the year. Value is set according to assessed market value. A person can only own one primary dwelling. Farmhouses on farms are not regarded as primary dwellings.

Secondary dwelling

A dwelling that a person owns, which is not the primary dwelling. Value is set according to assessed market value. Cabins and holiday properties are not secondary dwellings.

Estimated gross financial capital

Comprises bank deposits, shares, units of mutual funds, share savings accounts, bonds and other securities.

Prior to 2008, appreciation of shares, mutual funds, primary capital certificates etc. were subject to discounts. In the wealth statistics, tax value was applied. Between 2008 and 2016, discounts were not used, and tax value corresponded to market value. From 2017, discounts in the appreciation values were once again used in the taxation of financial wealth. In the wealth statistics, however, tax values have been adjusted upwards so that the appreciation used in the wealth statistics corresponds to market or sales value.

Estimated gross wealth

Sum of estimated real capital and gross financial capital.

Debt

Comprises dept to creditors and share of dept for owners in Building Societies. From 2017, market value of debt is used, including appreciation discounts used in the taxation of debt. Prior to 2017, market value and taxable value of debt were the same.

From 2017 and on the sum of debt was subject to a reduction before subtracting the debt from the wealth estimation when assessing taxation of wealth.

In the Income and wealth statistics for households, the sum of debt before any possible reduction is used in the definition of wealth.

Unsecured debt contains debt with both interest-bearing and non-interest-bearing balances. Data on unsecured debt are only available from the income year 2019 and on. The size of the unsecured debt is calculated according to data from Gjeldsregisteret AS as of December 31st in the income year.

Estimated net wealth

Estimated gross wealth minus debt.

Median income

Median income is the exact income amount that splits a distribution in two equally sized groups, when income is sorted ascending (or descending). The number of persons with income above the median will be the same as the number of persons with income below the median.

Income per consumption unit (equivalent income)

The needs of a household grow with each additional member but not in a proportional way. Needs for housing space, electricity, etc. will not be three times as high for a household with three members than for a single person, due to economy of scale. With the help of equivalence scales each household type in the population is assigned a value in proportion to its needs. The factors commonly considered to assign these values are the number of persons in the household and whether they are adults or children.

Several equivalents scales exist which are used for different purposes. In the Income and wealth statistics for households, the EU scale is applied (see below).

Consumption units calculated according to the EU scale

This is the ‘OECD-modified equivalence scale’ which assigns a value of 1 to the household head, of 0.5 to each additional adult member and of 0.3 to each child under the age of 17.

Consumption units calculated according to the OECD scale

This equivalence scale assigns a value of 1 to the household head, of 0.7 to each additional adult member and of 0.5 to each child under the age of 17.

Low income threshold

The low-income thresholds are defined as a share of median equivalent income after tax. Commonly used shares are 50 or 60 per cent of median income after tax per consumption unit. There is no official low-income threshold in Norway. Statistics Norway calculates different low-income thresholds based on the income level among the total population, and thus is relative to the general income growth and comparable for persons belonging to different household types.

Low-income group

Persons belonging to a household with annual equivalent income below the low-income threshold.

Economically active

A person that has income from employment or self-employment that is greater than twice the Basic Amount of the National Insurance Scheme (so-called "G", or "grunnbeløpet"). For the income year 2010 and earlier, persons with income from employment or self-employment greater than the Minimum Pension for single people were regarded as economically active.

This concept differs from the definition “Employed persons” used in other statistics, which defines whether a person is in employment on a certain time.

Single parents

Persons in the household type "mother/father with children aged 0-17 years".

Old-age pensioners

Persons in households where the main income earner, according to the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration, receives old age pension from the social security system.

Disability pensioners

Persons in households where the main income earner, according to the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration, receives disability pension from the social security system.

Pensioners within the Voluntary Early Retirement Scheme

Persons in households where the main income earner, according to the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration, is in early retirement.

Receivers of survivor's benefits

Persons in households where the main income earner, according to the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration, receives survivor's benefit (after deceased spouse) from the social security system.

Old-age pensioners with minimum state pension

As of 2021 the definition of receivers of the minimum state pension that the Income and Wealth statistics for Households use is in accordance with the definition used by Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration.

In the Income and Wealth statistics for Households the number of receivers of retirement pension and the minimum state pension will be fewer than the number the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration reports since we only count residents at the close of the year.

Until 2020 receivers of the minimum state pension were defined by persons who received the minimum state pension, or who received a pension supplement.

Receivers of the minimum state pension

Persons who receive the minimum pension level, which is a guaranteed minimum retirement pension payment from the National Insurance Scheme. The definition distinguishes between:

Old-age pensioners who receive the minimum state pension.
Disability pensioners who receive the minimum state pension.
Receivers of minimum level survivor’s benefits

Until 2020 receivers of the minimum state pension were defined as persons who received the minimum state pension, or who received a pension supplement.

Receivers of work assessment allowance

Persons in households where the main income earner is registered with a longstanding illness. Included are persons in receipt of rehabilitation allowances, persons incapable of full labour force participation, but attend labour market schemes, and others. Up until 2005, persons who were incapable of full labour force participation but who attended programmes initiated by the National Insurance Scheme (e.g. school and work placements), and persons who were receiving vocational rehabilitation allowances, were not included in the statistics.

Long-term unemployed

Persons in households where the main income earner has been registered as unemployed for 6 consecutive months or more during the year.

People on social assistance

Persons in households where the main income earner has received social assistance at least once during the year.

Singles

Persons who are the only person in a household.

Immigrants

Persons in households where the main income earner is born abroad by two foreign-born parents (first-generation immigrant).

Norwegian-born to immigrant parents

Persons in households where the main income earner is born in Norway by two foreign-born parents.

Refugees

Persons in households where the main income earner is immigrated to Norway for refuge reasons.

Persons with refugee background

Persons in households where the main income earner is immigrated to Norway for refuge reasons or immigrated family members of these.

Age

Age (number of years) at the end of the year.

Socioeconomic status

Socioeconomic status is described by type of economic activity (see above). The economically active population, which mainly receive their income from working, is divided into self-employed and employees. If income from self-employment is greater than income from employment, the person is classified as self-employed, and vice versa.

We have the following socio-economic groups:

Working

Self-employed in agriculture, forestry and fishing
Self-employed in other industries.
Employee

Non-working

Pensioners and National Insurance recipients
Other non-working

Income sources not included in the income statistics

After-tax income comprises the sum of income from work, property income and transfers, where assessed taxes and negative transfers are deducted. This way of defining income is in accordance with the practical definition recommended in the Canberra report (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe 2011).

The income statistics cover most of the various monetary income sources. Due to lack of information, the following elements are not included in the statistics although they affect the income level.

The value of public services, such as public health care and education
The net value of unpaid domestic services. This include unpaid housework, child care and goods produced for own consumption
The net value of owner-occupied housing services.
The net value of services from household consumer durables
Income withheld from taxation or gained from criminal activities
Child support received through private agreements
Rental income when renting out less than 50 per cent of owner-occupied housing
Municipal subsidy schemes for housing and cash benefits for child care
Local property taxes are not deducted when estimating after-tax income due to lack of information
Interest payments are not deducted from after-tax income, although data on this is available. This is done as a rough compensation for not including the value of owner-occupied housing services in the income.

Standard classifications

Types of household are in accordance with standard classifications.

Administrative information

Name and topic

Name: Income and wealth statistics for households
Topic: Income and consumption

Next update

19 December 2023

Responsible division

Division for Income and social welfare statistics

Regional level

National level, counties, municipalities, urban districts in the four largest cities and statistical tracts.

Frequency and timeliness

Annually. The statistics are released in the last quarter in the year after the statistical year.

International reporting

Income data is used in Eurostat's structural indicators on low income and income distribution (EU SILC). Micro data for selected years is also included in the databases Luxembourg Income Study (LIS) and Luxembourg Wealth Study (LWS). Income data is also included in OECD's Income Distribution Database.

Microdata

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.

Background

Background and purpose

The purpose of the statistics is to quantify the economic resources the households have available for saving and consumption. This is a basis for information about essential sides of the state and development of living conditions and welfare in the society, such as:

Types of income and the size of these
Wealth and debt – sizes and types
How income and wealth is distributed between households.

This gives an opportunity to measure economic inequality, estimate the extent of low income, rate of debt, economic activity and other conditions, and study how this varies between types of households, population groups, regions etc.

The Income Distribution Survey was conducted annually from 1986 to 2004 based on a representative sample survey. Information on the household composition was collected from various Living Condition Surveys and Household Budget Surveys. Up until 1992, the income data was obtained in the form of paper forms from the local tax offices. In addition, tax-free transfers were obtained electronically from other government agencies. Beginning with the survey for the 1993 income year, it was possible to obtain all income data from the personal tax return in electronic form. From 2005 we have also established household composition by using registers. This means that we are now able to produce a totally register-based household income statistics

Users and applications

The main users are the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Ministry of Children and Families, the Norwegian Directorate of Health, the Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration, local and regional authorities and research institutes in the areas of household economics, tax research and living conditions in general.

The tax model “LOTTE”, which is operated by Statistics Norway and is used for simulation of taxes and in tax research is updated annually with data from the Income and wealth statistics for households.

The data sources are very detailed and are therefore capable of providing other arrangements and allocations of statistics than those that are published by Statistics Norway.

Equal treatment of users

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.

Coherence with other statistics

Tax statistics for personal tax payers is an important data source for the statistics on income and wealth for households. The tax statistics include data from all the records in the tax return and is obtained for all persons residing in the country. The statistics have been available as total census based on registers from the year 1993 and on.

Legal authority

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).

EEA reference

Not relevant.

Production

Population

All persons residing in Norway and resident in a private household as of 31st December of the income year.

From 2013, residents studying abroad are also excluded from the households.

The totally register-based income statistics as of 2004 is a total census. Households are derived at after performing certain adjustments to the formal households (formal address according to the National Population Register). These adjustments include omitting people living in institutions and moving students, that no longer reside with their parents, to single person households. Surveys suggest that less than 10 per cent of the students in Norway actually live at home. In addition, other administrative sources are used to identify more cohabitating couples that belong to the same household.

Data sources and sampling

Income data is received by linking different administrative registers and statistical data sources for the whole population as of 31st of December of the income year. Income and biographical data is collected from the following sources:

Data from tax returns (wages and salaries, self-employment income, pensions etc.)
The Tax Register (taxes)
The a-ordning (unemployment benefit, various tax-free transfers)
Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration (family allowances, basic and additional amounts, cash benefit etc.)
KOSTRA (social assistance)
State Educational Loan Fund -Lånekassen (loans to students, scholarships)
Gjeldsregisteret AS (unsecured debt)
Education statistics and household statistics from Statistics Norway (highest level of completed education etc.)
Sample survey in the period 1986-2004. From 2004 totally census-based.

Collection of data, editing and estimations

Data are collected from various administrative registers.

Consistency controls are undertaken by comparing information from different sources.

The population of the Income Distribution Survey (1986-2004) was weighted by the use of a calibration program. This method of estimation permits the population to show the same aggregates familiar from the register statistics (for the population) for selected variables. This applies to the different personal incomes and net wealth.

Seasonal adjustment

Not relevant.

Confidentiality

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 or households.

The surpression method is used in this statistics to ensure this, by supressing any combination that would display 11 or fewer observations.

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

Comparability over time and space

The Income and wealth statistics has gone through several significant changes through the years. This is due to changes in the income concept, as a result of changes in the tax system and access to new income components from registers.

The estimation of household wealth has also changed over the years, according to changing tax rules and available data and methods for estimating market value for various wealth components. From 2010 and on, for example, Statistics Norway has been able to estimate market value for primary and secondary dwellings in Norway.

Accuracy and reliability

Sources of error and uncertainty

Some data collection and processing errors are unavoidable. These include coding errors, revision errors, data processing errors, etc. Comprehensive efforts have been made to minimize these errors, and we regard these types of errors to be relatively insignificant.

Sources of error and uncertainty before 2005

From and including the income year 2005, these statistics are based on a total census and will not be affected by variance and bias. For previous years with survey-based statistics, the following is of relevance:

All sample surveys are subject to a certain amount of uncertainty. In general; the fewer observations the more uncertain the results. Results based on less than 20 observations are therefore not published.

Groups based on relatively few observations will be very strongly influenced by extreme observations, i.e. observations that deviate greatly from the average. In this statistics, extreme observations in most cases are included, but an attempt has been made to reduce the effect of such observations by adjustments (reduction) of the household weights.

Bias can occur when the distribution between certain groups in the sample is not the same as the corresponding distribution in the total population. Sample bias of this type can occur through non-response. Most of the data for the Income Distribution Survey was obtained from administrative registers. Non-response is not a problem for this part of the material. The household composition was based on interviews, where there will always be non-response. Non-response is adjusted by replacing household data with data on family composition from registers.

Revision

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. Not relevant here.

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Contact

Jon Epland

Lene Sandvik

Aurora Hattrem

aurora.hattrem@ssb.no

(+47) 90 40 74 24

Elisabeth Løyland Omholt

elisabeth.omholt@ssb.no

(+47) 93 05 55 28

Income and wealth statistics for households

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About the statistics

Household

Student household

Main income earner

Total income

After-tax income

Income from work

Income from self-employment

Property income

Taxable transfers

Tax-free transfers

Assessed taxes and negative transfers

Estimated real capital

Primary dwelling

Secondary dwelling

Estimated gross financial capital

Estimated gross wealth

Debt

Estimated net wealth

Median income

Income per consumption unit (equivalent income)

Consumption units calculated according to the EU scale

Consumption units calculated according to the OECD scale

Low income threshold

Low-income group

Economically active

Single parents

Old-age pensioners

Disability pensioners

Pensioners within the Voluntary Early Retirement Scheme

Receivers of survivor's benefits

Old-age pensioners with minimum state pension

Receivers of the minimum state pension

Receivers of work assessment allowance

Long-term unemployed

People on social assistance

Singles

Immigrants

Norwegian-born to immigrant parents

Refugees

Persons with refugee background

Age

Socioeconomic status

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Contact