Statistikk innhold
Statistics on
Farmers’ income and debt
The statistics present figures for incomes and debt for persons who are operating agricultural holdings, independent of the holding as source of income. The amounts are derived from tax statistics for personal tax payers.
Selected figures from the statistics
- Farmers’ income and debtDownload table as ...Farmers’ income and debt
2023 Change in per cent 2022 - 2023 2018 - 2023 Personal holders (number) 35 111 -1.8 -6.2 Average total income for holders (NOK) 760 200 -2.4 30.1 Wages and salaries 365 900 6.2 28.0 Net entrepreneurial income from agriculture 257 300 -6.5 54.5 Other entrepreneurial income 97 700 -1.2 19.0 Pensions 79 400 8.3 32.1 Capital income etc.1 86 900 14.0 44.1 Average debt for holders (NOK) 2 698 300 -6.8 10.2 Average interest paid for holders (NOK) 126 900 41.5 79.2 1Capital income (interest income, dividends, etc.) varies greatly from year to year and is dominated by a small number of people with very large capital income Explanation of symbolsDownload table as ... - Entrepreneurial income from agriculture for holders, by countyDownload table as ...Entrepreneurial income from agriculture for holders, by county
Net entrepreneurial income from agriculture Net entrepreneurial income from agriculture Holders by net entrepreneurial income from agriculture NOK million NOK Number Per cent Total Per holder Holders, total Without positive income 1 - 49 999 NOK 50 000 - 99 999 NOK 100 000 - 249 999 NOK 250 000 - 399 999 NOK 400 000 and more 2021 7 139 198 700 35 935 33 10 12 14 10 21 2022 9 836 275 100 35 755 28 9 11 15 10 27 2023 9 034 257 300 35 111 30 9 11 15 10 26 2023 Oslo and Viken (2020-2023) 1 344 234 500 5 733 31 8 12 16 10 22 Innlandet 1 784 279 700 6 377 29 8 10 14 12 28 Vestfold og Telemark (2020-2023) 516 222 700 2 318 35 10 11 15 9 20 Agder 302 174 700 1 726 39 11 11 13 8 18 Rogaland 1 404 377 700 3 718 21 7 11 16 11 34 Vestland 905 164 500 5 501 36 12 12 15 9 16 Møre og Romsdal 448 208 400 2 150 34 9 11 13 9 24 Trøndelag - Trööndelage 1 507 301 800 4 991 26 8 10 14 11 31 Nordland - Nordlánnda 529 324 500 1 629 22 9 9 15 10 35 Troms og Finnmark - Romsa ja Finnmárku (2020-2023) 296 305 400 968 26 9 7 14 12 33 Explanation of symbolsDownload table as ... - Average income for holders, by county. NOKDownload table as ...Average income for holders, by county. NOK
Total net income Wages and salaries Net entrepreneurial income from agriculture Other entrepreneurial income Pensions Capital income etc1 2021 727 100 323 700 198 700 96 200 69 800 108 900 2022 778 500 344 600 275 100 98 900 73 300 76 200 2023 760 200 365 900 257 300 97 700 79 400 86 900 2023 Oslo and Viken (2020-2023) 890 700 412 700 234 500 148 100 85 200 145 400 Innlandet 740 000 323 600 279 700 121 500 70 500 83 800 Vestfold og Telemark (2020-2023) 832 500 419 600 222 700 114 800 96 400 95 500 Agder 705 000 377 500 174 700 93 600 92 000 69 400 Rogaland 816 400 367 300 377 700 78 100 67 600 83 200 Vestland 740 200 406 000 164 500 64 300 92 300 85 700 Møre og Romsdal 677 700 364 600 208 400 72 000 85 600 56 500 Trøndelag - Trööndelage 698 800 344 600 301 800 85 900 62 700 66 300 Nordland - Nordlánnda 637 100 265 400 324 500 54 200 84 000 42 500 Troms og Finnmark - Romsa ja Finnmárku (2020-2023) 652 900 267 600 305 400 63 800 76 900 40 600 1Capital income (interest income, dividends, etc.) varies greatly from year to year and is dominated by a small number of people with very large capital income. Explanation of symbolsDownload table as ... - Holders by net entrepreneurial income from agriculture as per cent of net income, by countyDownload table as ...Holders by net entrepreneurial income from agriculture as per cent of net income, by county
Holders, total Share of holders by net entrepreneurial income from agriculture as per cent of net income 0 per cent 1-9 per cent 10-49 per cent 50-89 per cent 90 per cent or more 2021 35 935 33 14 27 14 12 2022 35 755 27 13 31 17 12 2023 35 111 29 14 30 16 11 2023 Oslo and Viken (2020-2023) 5 733 30 15 35 14 6 Innlandet 6 377 28 12 29 19 12 Vestfold og Telemark (2020-2023) 2 318 35 16 30 13 6 Agder 1 726 38 15 27 13 7 Rogaland 3 718 20 13 33 18 17 Vestland 5 501 35 17 29 12 8 Møre og Romsdal 2 150 33 14 25 15 13 Trøndelag - Trööndelage 4 991 26 12 30 18 16 Nordland - Nordlánnda 1 629 22 11 28 18 21 Troms og Finnmark - Romsa ja Finnmárku (2020-2023) 968 26 10 25 19 19 Explanation of symbolsDownload table as ... - Interest paid and debt for holders, by countyDownload table as ...Interest paid and debt for holders, by county
Interest paid, total. NOK million Interest paid per holder. NOK Debt, total. NOK million Debt per holder. NOK 2021 2 523 70 200 102 233 2 844 900 2022 3 209 89 700 103 534 2 895 700 2023 4 457 126 900 94 741 2 698 300 2023 Oslo and Viken (2020-2023) 775 135 200 17 538 3 059 200 Innlandet 887 139 200 18 971 2 975 000 Vestfold og Telemark (2020-2023) 270 116 500 5 915 2 551 600 Agder 176 102 200 3 743 2 168 900 Rogaland 586 157 600 13 071 3 515 500 Vestland 400 72 700 8 739 1 588 600 Møre og Romsdal 235 109 400 4 720 2 195 400 Trøndelag - Trööndelage 812 162 600 16 043 3 214 400 Nordland - Nordlánnda 218 133 600 4 051 2 487 000 Troms og Finnmark - Romsa ja Finnmárku (2020-2023) 98 101 400 1 950 2 014 100 Explanation of symbolsDownload table as ... - Holders by size of debt, by countyDownload table as ...Holders by size of debt, by county
Holders, total Holders by size of debt NOK 0-0.09 million NOK 0.1-0.9 million NOK 1-1.9 million NOK 2-3.9 million NOK 4 million or more 2021 35 935 6 802 7 991 5 393 7 246 8 503 2022 35 755 6 548 8 081 5 426 7 105 8 595 2023 35 111 6 006 8 471 6 302 7 025 7 307 2023 Oslo and Viken (2020-2023) 5 733 887 1 333 928 1 215 1 370 Innlandet 6 377 971 1 567 1 119 1 206 1 514 Vestfold og Telemark (2020-2023) 2 318 422 528 464 471 433 Agder 1 726 336 401 354 384 251 Rogaland 3 718 514 754 564 793 1 093 Vestland 5 501 1 395 1 515 1 064 999 528 Møre og Romsdal 2 150 410 572 430 411 327 Trøndelag - Trööndelage 4 991 631 1 078 873 1 065 1 344 Nordland - Nordlánnda 1 629 278 427 298 309 317 Troms og Finnmark - Romsa ja Finnmárku (2020-2023) 968 162 296 208 172 130 Explanation of symbolsDownload table as ...
About the statistics
The information under «About the statistics» was last updated 4 June 2023.
Agricultural holding
A single unit both technically and economically, which has single management and which produces agricultural products. The holding is independent of municipality boundaries. The agricultural holding's headquarter must be located to an agricultural property.
Holder
The person considered responsible for operating the holding.
Gross income
Total wages and salaries, pensions, gross entrepreneurial income and property income.
Average income for farmers
Average gross income with deduction of debt interest and the year's deficit in the industry.
Wages and salaries
Comprise payments in cash and in kind, taxable sick pay and unemployment benefit.
Pensions
Cover all benefit paid by social security and private pension and life insurance benefit.
Gross entrepreneurial income
A result of the activities of a self-employed person, and is estimated from profit and loss account and balance sheet. The entrepreneurial income is transferred to the tax return and is included in the calculation of ordinary income.
Gross entrepreneurial income from agriculture
This is positive entrepreneurial income from agriculture according to the tax return. In addition, entrepreneurial social security benefits in agriculture, forestry and fishery are included. Deductions such as membership payments to industry organisations, the year's entrepreneurial deficit, interest on debt and a separate agricultural deduction are not deducted. Income from any supplementary industry executed on the holding, e.g. forestry, are included in other entrepreneurial income if the industry concerned are considered as independent according to taxation.
Net entrepreneurial income from agriculture
Gross entrepreneurial income from agriculture with deduction of the year's deficit in the industry.
Capital income
Consist of interest income, dividends, realised capital gains, rent and other income from property.
The following classifications are used in the tables: county where the holding is located, size of holding expressed in decares of utilised agricultural area, type of farming of the holding and sex of holder.
County
See new county classification: https://www.ssb.no/klass/klassifikasjoner/104
Name: Farmers’ income and debt
Topic: Agriculture, forestry, hunting and fishing
Division for Housing, Property, Spatial and Agricultural Statistics
County
Annual, about 55 weeks after the reference year
Not relevant
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 purpose is to present statistics on incomes and debt for persons who are operating agricultural holdings, independent of the holding as source of income. An essential feature of the Norwegian agriculture is that many persons that are running agricultural holdings work part-time in agriculture or the work is concentrated to the growing season. Many holders have wage/salary or entrepreneurial income from other industries as main source of income.
Statistics Norway has produced statistics on the farmers' income, property and taxes based on the tax assessment for personal taxpayers since 1968. More detailed tax return data have been presented from 1999 and onwards.
There is much focus on level, distribution and development of incomes of holders in agriculture. The main users of the statistics are the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, the Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research, the Agricultural Budget Commission, the Norwegian Farmers Union, the Norwegian Smallholders Union etc.
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.
Yearly, Statistics Norway also presents Income statistics for all self-employed persons . At first level the self-employed persons are classified into two groups: self-employed with main income from industry and self-employed with main income from wages/salaries and pensions. Furthermore, those with main income from industry are classified into primary industries and other industries. Primary industries consist of agriculture, forestry and fishery.
The The Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research yearly presents Account Results in Agriculture and Forestry. This survey shows results for holdings where most of the family's total income are derived from the holding. More information: http://www.nibio.no/.
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).
Not relevant
Agricultural holdings are operated by two main types of holders: natural person and legal person. The total number of holdings has been decreasing over many years, while during the last years the number of holdings operated by a legal person has increased. The percentage of holdings operated by a legal person increased from 1 per cent in 1999 to 6 per cent in 2008. The proportion has decreased somewhat, and in 2021 they make up just over 5 per cent of the population. The statistics on the farmers' income and property cover only agricultural holdings operated by a natural person.
The agricultural companies have a large variation in the scope of production, this includes everything from hobby production to holdings with turnover in the millions. Some of the holdings have small-scale production under the threshold to be considered an industry by the tax authorities.
The individual person who is considered as responsible for operating the holding is referred to as holder (farmer). Some holdings change holder during the year. Mainly, the holder being holder as per 31 July the year concerned is included. For the holders information has been obtained on any spouse, registered partner or cohabitant. Up to and including 2004, cohabitant included only he/she who had children in common with the holder. As from 2005, also cohabitant who lived together with holder according to the Population and Housing Census 2001 and still has common address is included.
Married couples and registered partners who jointly operate a holding may share the taxable entrepreneurial income. Cohabitants who want to share the entrepreneurial income from a jointly operated holding have to organize the management as a legal entity other than sole proprietorship, or one of them has to be an employee.
The population of persons may differ from one table to another. Mainly, a table either comprises holders only or an aggregate of holders and spouses/registered partners/cohabitants.
The statistics are based on the population of agricultural holdings operated by a natural person and tax return data. Division for Income and Wage Statistics links data from the Tax statistics for personal tax payers to the population of farmers. The tax statistics for personal taxpayers is a total census based on data from the ordinary tax assessments. For more information: https://www.ssb.no/en/inntekt-og-forbruk/skatt-for-personer/statistikk/skatt-for-personer
The statistics are based on collocation of data files that have been separately edited when established. Furthermore, the statistics have been examined for extreme values, i.g. values for individual holders or spouses/partners/cohabitants which significantly influence the whole population of agricultural holdings operated by a natural person. Individuals who meet one or more of the following conditions are omitted from the statistics: had a gross income of more than NOK 100 million, had a debt of more than NOK 100 million or had property of more than NOK 300 million. Annually, this concerns about 10 individuals.
Some holders and spouses/partners/cohabitants operate holdings separately. To avoid double counting, information from the tax return data are linked to the holding with the largest production. Annually, this concerns about 100 couples.
Average figures for a variable, e.g. wages and salaries for the holder, is estimated by summing up the value of the variable wages and salaries for all holders and divide the sum with the number of total holders. This means that holders without wages and salaries are included in the average figures.
Not relevant
Employees of Statistics Norway have a duty of confidentiality.
Statistics Norway does not publish figures if there is a risk of the respondent’s contribution being identified. This means that, as a general rule, figures are not published if fewer than three units form the basis of a cell in a table or if the contribution of one or two respondents constitutes a very large part of the cell total.
Statistics Norway can make exceptions to the general rule if deemed necessary to meet the requirements of the EEA agreement, if the respondent is a public authority, if the respondent has consented to this, or when the information disclosed is openly accessible to the public.
More information can be found on Statistics Norway’s website under Methods in official statistics, in the ‘Confidentiality’ section.
Changes in the tax regulations influence the data and consequently the statistics over time. The tax regulations were significantly changed as from 1992. The statistics are essentially comparable for the period 1992 - 2002. In 2003, the tax return forms filled in by self-employed persons were considerably changed. Particularly, a separate deduction in entrepreneurial income from agriculture was deducted before the entrepreneurial income was transferred to the tax return form. Due to this neither the entrepreneurial income nor the gross income are comparable with the other years. As from 2004, the agricultural deduction again is stated as a deduction on the tax return.
Changes in tax regulations as from 1 January 2006 increased taxes for certain types of income. Due to this, taxpayers realised income in 2005 to avoid increased taxes in 2006 or later years.
Changes in the regulation concerning governmental production subsidies as per 31 July 2002 have caused increased number of holdings operated by other legal entities than sole proprietorship. This concerns particularly the legal entities general partnership and general partnership with shared liability. Furthermore, the changes of the regulation has influenced the number of holders participating in joint operation (organised as general partnerships) and at the same time running their own enterprise (sole proprietorship). Before 2002, holders participating in joint operation in milk production had to apply separately for area production subsidies. Now, the participants may choose whether they will cultivate fodder in own separate enterprise or operate the area jointly.
From 2002, holders applying governmental production subsidies as a general condition had to be registered in the Value Added Tax Registration List. Later, the minimum turnover for being in this list has increased. In order to still include small holdings, a new condition was introduced; the holding has to have an overall turnover, included withdrawal of commodities, over a certain threshold during the last 12 months. From 2014 there is no threshold.
A revised calculation of type of farming of the holdings was implemented in the Farmers' Income and Property 2007. The revision has caused a fall in the farm types "Various grazing livestock" and "Mixed crops - livestock", while the farm type "Other field crops" has increased. Other farm types are hardly affected.
New changes in the type of farming classification have been introduced as from 2010. Before 2010 standard gross margin (SGM) was used as common unit of measurement for various crop and livestock husbandry within a holding. From 2010 and onwards SGM is replaced by standard output (SO). Some other changes concerning the methodology are also introduced. The two versions are not fully comparable.
The most important source of error is that taxpayers may fill in incorrect information on income, deductions, property or debt in the personal tax return or place amounts under wrong items. In most cases this will be detected and corrected by the local tax offices. Nevertheless, errors that do not influence the assessment of taxes may be ignored. Furthermore, errors may also originate during the scanning of the tax return forms, despite of the fact that controls are executed.
A non-significant number of holdings are missing information on income etc. No information is imputed for these holdings.
Statistics Norway receives data from the Directorate of Taxes before all complaints from taxpayers are finished.
Only final figures are published.