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IN DATA: How Oslo still leads the way for monthly salaries in Norway

IN DATA: How Oslo still leads the way for monthly salaries in Norway

Local Norway2 days ago
According to
new data for July from Statistics Norway
, the average Oslo worker earns a princely 64,000 kroner a month, a full 5,000 kroner more than the next best paid county, Rogaland, home to Stavanger, the centre of the country's offshore oil industry.
Vestland, home to Bergen, Norway's second city, trailed in fourth place, with the Oslo commuter county of Akerhus bagging the third position.
Workers in Innlandet had the lowest average salaries, pulling in an average of 51,000 kroner a month, 14,000 less than the average Oslo resident.
READ ALSO:
What's considered a good salary for foreign workers in Oslo?
How foreign workers can be exploited in the Norwegian labour market
While Oslo might have the highest average monthly salaries, this isn't the amount that most people get paid as the average is skewed by the capital being home to many of the country's highest overall wage earners, such as CEOs of large firms.
Oslo also tends to have higher living costs than other cities in Norway, with property, in particular, significantly more expensive.
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IN DATA: How Oslo still leads the way for monthly salaries in Norway
IN DATA: How Oslo still leads the way for monthly salaries in Norway

Local Norway

time2 days ago

  • Local Norway

IN DATA: How Oslo still leads the way for monthly salaries in Norway

According to new data for July from Statistics Norway , the average Oslo worker earns a princely 64,000 kroner a month, a full 5,000 kroner more than the next best paid county, Rogaland, home to Stavanger, the centre of the country's offshore oil industry. Vestland, home to Bergen, Norway's second city, trailed in fourth place, with the Oslo commuter county of Akerhus bagging the third position. Workers in Innlandet had the lowest average salaries, pulling in an average of 51,000 kroner a month, 14,000 less than the average Oslo resident. READ ALSO: What's considered a good salary for foreign workers in Oslo? How foreign workers can be exploited in the Norwegian labour market While Oslo might have the highest average monthly salaries, this isn't the amount that most people get paid as the average is skewed by the capital being home to many of the country's highest overall wage earners, such as CEOs of large firms. Oslo also tends to have higher living costs than other cities in Norway, with property, in particular, significantly more expensive. Advertisement

ENK or AS: What company type should you use for your Norwegian business?
ENK or AS: What company type should you use for your Norwegian business?

Local Norway

time5 days ago

  • Local Norway

ENK or AS: What company type should you use for your Norwegian business?

For many people setting up as freelancers or consultants, or launching small businesses in Norway, one of the first questions is whether to structure their venture as a sole proprietorship ( Enkeltpersonforetak or ENK) or as a limited liability company ( Aksjeselskap or AS). Each has its own advantages and disadvantages and the answer will generally depend on how much you expect to earn from business, how risky it is as a venture, how much time you have for administration, and whether you want to enjoy full social benefits as an employee. What's the difference? Liability With an ENK there is no legal separation between the business and your personal finances. This means you are personally liable for all the debts and obligations, so if the business goes bankrupt, your home and your savings are at risk. With an AS, your liability is limited to the value of the shares you have in the company, which must be 30,000 kronor or more. Your personal assets are protected, unless you've provided a personal guarantee when taking out a loan. This difference in liability shouldn't much matter if you are, for example, a social media consultant or freelance journalist, and your business assets are limited to a laptop. But if, for example, you are buying up old Norwegian farm machinery for export elsewhere and have millions of kroner worth of assets on your books at any one time, it could matter a lot. Advertisement Taxation With an ENK, there is no distinction made between salary and profit: everything is taxed as personal income. With an AS, your company pays corporate tax at 22 percent on any profits, and you pay personal income tax on any salary you pay yourself, as well as dividend tax on any dividends your company pays to you as a shareholder. This means having an AS gives you much greater flexibility in planning your tax, and more opportunities to reduce your tax bill. If you have an ENK, you pay 22 percent in municipal tax, then a trygdeavgift of 10.9 percent, covering social security contributions, then increasing levels of marginal tax on any income above 208,050 kroner a year. This means your effective tax rate will go from as low as 33 percent if you earn just 300,000 kroner a year up to as high as 48 percent if you earn 5 million kroner a year. Regardless of whether you have an ENK or AS, it's possible to subtract business costs like office spaces, computers, car use etc. from your income, reducing your tax bill. Advertisement With an AS, the tax burden can potentially be a little higher, going as high as 52 percent for a company earning 5 million kroner a year if all earnings are taken out as salary. But if you keep earnings in the company and pay yourself a much smaller salary, you can potentially reduce your annual tax bill substantially. If your company earns 5 million kroner and you limit your salary to just 1 million kroner, you can end up paying as little as 27 percent in tax. Social Security Sole proprietors in Norway have slightly worse entitlement to social security than full employees (or owners) of limited companies. You get lower sick pay, with payments delayed until you have been sick for 17 days and covering only 80 percent of your normal earnings. You also get lower parental benefits and accrue less pension. As the owner of an AS, you are treated like an employee and get 100 percent sick pay from day one, full parental leave, unemployment benefits, and pension accruals. Advertisement Costs and bureaucracy An ENK is easy to set up and free to register, with minimal accounting requirements, no need to have an external auditor, and no restrictions on how you can withdraw money. An AS is a lot more complicated, with a requirement to submit annual accounts and to have an external accountant if you have revenues of over 7 million kroner, assets with 27 million kroner or more, or more than 10 employees. You also require a minimum of 30,000 kroner in share capital. Credibility While an ENK is fine for freelancers or consultants, it is seen as less formal and professional, meaning for some types of business, structuring yourself as an AS will increase credibility. So which should you choose? In general, an ENK is the best option if you have few assets or liabilities, a limited income and are not dealing with clients who prefer to work with an AS. Freelancers and small-scale consultants might choose to run their business as an ENK. If you earn a higher salary, perhaps as an IT consultant or independent management consultant, you might opt to structure your business as an AS, even if you lack employees, because of the greater flexibility in tax management.

Early voting, electronic tags and bigamy: What changes in Norway in August 2025
Early voting, electronic tags and bigamy: What changes in Norway in August 2025

Local Norway

time15-07-2025

  • Local Norway

Early voting, electronic tags and bigamy: What changes in Norway in August 2025

Although most people will be back at work by the start of August, not everyone will be, so expect the first few weeks to still be slower than usual with the country only hitting its normal pace once children are back in school on the 18th. Election campaign kicks off The final spurt of the campaign will begin in earnest when politicians from all parties descend on the city of Arendal for the Arendalsuke political festival on Monday August 11th. The big event of the festival will be the party leader debate hosted by Norwegian broadcaster NRK on the first day. There will also be a speech by Norway's finance minister Jens Stoltenberg on Wednesday August 13th. Early voting begins From August 11th, those who are eligible to take part in Norway's general election can vote ahead of time at polling stations in every municipality in the country. You can find your nearest polling station and when it is open on the election authority's website here . All you need to bring is identification, which can be a passport, national ID card, driver's licenses (including digital ones), or a bank card with a photo. Advertisement Fellesferie 'industrial' holiday comes to an end Norway's official industrial holiday, the so-called fellesferie or "joint holiday" takes place this year between July 7th and July 25th. From the start of August, the emails will once again start to pile up in your inbox, and you'll find more and more meetings scheduled each week. This will also mean that the big cities will once again feel a bit busier as people return to their daily commutes. Back to school Children return to school in most municipalities in Norway, including Oslo, Bergen, and Trondheim, on Monday, August 18th. There will then be a short short autumn break between September 29th and October 3rd, with Christmas holidays starting on December 22nd. Interest rate decision Norway's public bank is expected to make a new interest decision on August 14th, following the surprise cut in the interest rate it announced in June. The current consensus is that the bank will keep its interest rate steady at 4.25 percent with only one out of 24 analysts polled by Reuters expecting a further cut to 4.0 percent at the bank's August meeting. Øyafestivalen (Oslo) Øyafestivalen is Oslo's biggest musical festival, celebrating its 25th anniversary last year. This year's festival, held from August 6th to August 9th, is headlined by some of the hottest artists today, such as Chappell Roan, Charli XCX, Queens of the Stone Age, girl in red, and Kneecap. There are several available ticket options. The weekly pass, which gives you access to the festival in Tøyen Park from Wednesday to Sunday, are already sold out at the time of publication, as are day passes for Wednesday and Thursday. 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