There are certainly some who benefit from us walking around thinking we can afford it less than before. No wonder the storm of complaints is enormous now that you are in an election year. -But.. The figures from Statistics Norway are crystal clear, we have received much more advice in 2023, despite strong inflation.
Ever since 2016, the income level in Norway has remained virtually unchanged. – In 2023, two things happened: income increased and income inequality in 2023 at the lowest level since 2014.
The average real income of Norwegian private households was NOK 635,400 in 2023. This was an increase of 2 per cent from 2022, the strongest increase in 11 years. “Many economists believe this is the explanation for high interest rates, but they fail to realize that most of the inflation in Norway is imported, along with the fact that many companies are taking advantage of the situation to raise prices a little extra.
Statistics Norway has looked at income developments for Norwegian households. They find that even adjusted for the relatively strong inflation of 5.5 per cent in 2023, the median household income increased by 2 per cent, compared with the previous year.
After almost unchanged income level since 2016, income increased in 2023. At the same time, income inequality in 2023 was at its lowest level since 2014.
“Among those who mainly lived on wage income, wage income increased approximately on a par with inflation. At the same time, increased interest and personal allowances led to a lower tax burden for many people in 2023 than in 2022. Older people experienced a fairly strong growth in income from old-age pensions, as well as somewhat in increased interest income. For households with young children, and especially among single parents, increased child benefit contributed to income growth,” says Elisabeth Omholt, Senior Adviser at Statistics Norway in the press release.
Single-person households and couples without children aged 67 years and older had the strongest increase in after-tax income, with as much as 4 per cent from 2022 to 2023.
Stop complaining, go out on the town, go to a concert, have a beer, a bloody steak and sell your Tesla before it becomes worthless!