Income, self-employed, 1999

By comparison, the entrepreneurial income of self-employed persons whose main income is derived from other industries was NOK 298 200. This corresponds to an increase from the year before of NOK 16 000 or 5.7 per cent. The self-employed with main income from independent occupations group has the highest entrepreneurial income, with NOK 332 100 or an increase of 5.8 per cent.

Estimated entrepreneurial personal income

Average estimated entrepreneurial personal income for all self-employed persons, was NOK 121 200 against NOK 120 000 the year before. Self-employed persons whose main income is from primary industries had an entrepreneurial personal income of NOK 153 100. This was a reduction of about 3 per cent from 1998. The corresponding number for self-employed persons whose main income was from other industries was NOK 255 600, an increase of just about 7 per cent. Self-employed persons whose main income comes from wages and pension, had an estimated entrepreneurial personal income of NOK 24 000. This equals on average a reduction of NOK 3 000 from the year before.

Total personal income

Total personal income for self-employed persons covers personal income of sole proprietorships, participant-taxed companies and joint-stock companies, as well as wages and pensions. On average, the total personal income for all self-employed persons was NOK 256 400 in 1999 against NOK 250 000 the year before. Personal income from business activities made up 47 per cent of total personal income, against 48 per cent the year before. For self-employed persons whose main income is from primary industries, estimated entrepreneurial personal income amounted to 84 per cent of total personal income against 85 per cent the year before. Corresponding figure for self-employed persons whose main income is from other industries was 91 per cent both years. For the group whose main income was from wages and pension, the share came to 9 per cent against 10 per cent in 1998.

Gross income

All self-employed persons as a whole had an average gross income of NOK 334 500. This corresponds to an increase of NOK 13 500 or 4 per cent from the year before. Self-employed persons whose main income was from independent occupations had the highest gross income, with an average of NOK 428 000. Average gross income for self-employed persons whose main income is from the primary industries was NOK 270 400, an increase of NOK 9 400 or 3.6 per cent. Self-employed persons whose main income was from wages and pension had a gross income of NOK 329 600. Entrepreneurial income for this group came to only 12 per cent of gross income.

About the statistical basis

The statistics cover a sample of 5 132 self-employed persons operating around 5 000 businesses. The sample is divided by the type of main income, with 570 persons in the primary industries, 3 221 in other industries and 1 341 persons whose main income is wages and pension.

A self-employed person is someone who operates a business for their own account and risk, and according to the tax authorities is obligated to supply trading statements in addition to the personal tax return. Spouses who operate a business together count as two self-employed persons if they fiscally share the entrepreneurial income. A self-employed person can be responsible for operating several businesses. According to Statistics Norways tax return statistics based on the Directorate of Taxes tax results for fiscal year 1999, Norway had 342 195 self-employed persons of whom 57 133 had their main income from the primary industries, 111 870 from other industries and 173 192 from wages and pension.