How large are income disparities by gender in Norway?

Throughout the years, social movements have actively sought the equality of rights and opportunities between men and women. Norway was the fourth country in which women’s suffrage was granted, allowing women to vote in 1913. Today, over 100 years later, Norway has taken important steps toward gender equality and it is ranked 1^st by the United Nations’ Human Development Report 2019, and 2^nd by the Global Gender Gap Report 2020 by the World Economic Forum.

Norway has successfully reduced gaps in educational attainment, health, economic participation and opportunity, political empowerment, and survival, but, how does the country fare in terms of income?

Norway’s income inequality by gender

Norway Reports, in cooperation with Women Investor Network, researched and analyzed key economic variables and indicators to measure the evolution of gender inequality, including income disparities, women’s involvement in businesses, and women’s participation as capital and wealth holders. This article covers income disparities in Norway.

During 2018 the average gross income in Norway was 471,700 NOK.  Women’s average gross income, obtained from the main entries from the tax assessments, was NOK 382,000 and men’s average income was 550,300 NOK, according to the latest data available at Statistics Norway.

Women earned 69% of men’s taxable income; in essence, men earn 44.05% more than women. Although Norway show high equality indexes, wage gaps in Norway are still highly significant from a taxation level. Gender disparities in income are caused by different factors, including wage gaps and larger capital income from interest payments and dividends.

In the case of average monthly income, average earnings of women and men account for NOK 43,850 and NOK 50,080, respectively. Although the differences in monthly income are lower compared to the tax assessment entries, the difference is still noticeable at over 14.2%. However, the salary wage gap has been reduced by 3 percentage points since 2015, period in which men earned 17.2% more than women.

Furthermore, consistent income gaps can also be observed according to specific positions in the Norwegian labor market. In general, the data show that the higher the position’s hierarchy, the larger the wage gap. Wage gaps are a challenge to overcome and the Norwegian government is supporting initiatives that promote the further empowerment of women.

Although Norway has made considerable progress in pursuing gender equality, there is still work to be done. Wage gaps tend to become smaller, but salaries represent only a fraction of the total gender context. In addition to salaries, it is critical to consider women’s empowerment, participation as shareholders, and the total accumulation of wealth by female Norwegians. An initiative called Women Investor Network is committed to support women to take advantage of the opportunities available in the market, encouraging them to perform both informed and profitable investments, and motivating female entrepreneurs to drive gender equality forward.