I have lived in Norway for exactly 15 years, and I have worked here the whole time. My salary increased, mainly when I changed jobs. In these years I have witnessed the Norwegian krone weaken, and weaken, and weaken more. When I think it’s come down to its lowest, nope. The Economist has even written about the mystery of the weak currency in Norway.

When I moved here, 1 Euro was equivalent to 6,5 kroner. Now it is at 11,78 and it was just below 12 this summer. Have salaries in Norway almost doubled during this time? Absolutely not. Has the price of living increased? Absolutely. This means that coming to Norway for high salaries only is not relevant anymore.

There are good and bad sides to the kroner being so weak. The good side, mainly for Norwegian companies exporting goods to other countries, is that Norwegian products now have a competitive price. Also, if you are somehow paid in Euros or USD and living in Norway, your salary is pretty amazing. If you are a freelancer with contracts in Euros, USD or even Swiss franc, your revenue is great. It is also great for tourists, because although the coffee in Oslo still stings, it has never been cheaper to travel to Norway than now.

However the down sides are much more numerous especially for foreigners living here.

When I started working in Norway I was earning around 400,000 kr per year before taxes. That was then equivalent to 61,500 Euros per year, before taxes. So it was around 3000 Euros after taxes per month. With this money I could pay rent in Oslo (10,000 kr in the city centre, 7000 kr outside of town for a flat), I could travel, I could go out, I could even save money. When I went home to France or travelled abroad I was “rich” because the kroners were worth a decent amount compared to other currencies such as the USD or the EUR.

At that time in 2009-10, a lot of foreigners were coming to Norwegian from European countries including Sweden and Poland to work, because even low paid jobs would give you enough to live and send home. To have the same salary in Euros today, you’d need 730,000 NOK per year. That is without any increase, just the equivalent in kroner and Euro of the exact same salary following loss due to currency.

When I was earning 400,000 kr a year I did not speak Norwegian, I had very little working experience, and I had no leadership role. The equivalent in kr today would be 730,000 kr, but that salary today requires a lot of work experience and speaking Norwegian. Salary increases have not followed the loss of currency. And why would it?

The main issue today is that anyone coming from abroad and looking at a Norwegian salary in Euros or USD will be quite disappointed, whether they are in construction or in tech. Because to give competitive salaries and cover cost of living which has also increased, salaries need to be much higher to be competitive internationally.

Impacts:

With a Norwegian salary today, foreigners have less money in their home country, to pay loans for example or just to travel to our home countries, foreigners have less money to send home to their families, and also salaries in Norway get less and less competitive. Unless of course you earn above 1 million kr, which is not exactly a normal salary for anyone in Norway but does exist for leaders and people very sought after in the private sector. (1 million kr = 85 000 Euros per year before taxes).

Another issue is that other countries paying in other currencies and with lower living standard could be more attractive for foreigners. The last impact is that people who have come recently have not had time to take advantage of the situation 15 years ago, by saving or buying a home. Another element to living standards is the increase in property prices in real estate in big cities. Making it very difficult to save enough money while renting to afford a down payment for a home.

Numbers from smartepenger.no

This table shows that the salary progression compared to the inflation in Norway has given very low salary development, sometimes even negative, in Norway. The research project EXITNORWAY from Oslomet has studied why people leave Norway, and the number one reason is economic reasons, living standard and prices.

However despite these reasons, foreigners continue to move to Norway. It would be interesting to know how long they stay, how much they earn and whether some groups are more likely to stay despite the economy. There are free things in this country, such as clean water, forests, and worklife balance 🙂 What do you think? Is the weak currency something you are thinking about before moving to Norway? Or is it just me seeing this because I lived here when things were different in the Norwegian economy?