Typical worker in Norway earns most in world
Richard Orange - [email protected]
Published: 17 Dec, 2013 CET.
Updated: Tue 17 Dec 2013 13:31 CET
The typical worker earns a higher salary in Norway than in any other country in the world, with Norwegian wage earners taking home more than double the median per-capita global income, a Gallup survey of household incomes published on Tuesday has revealed.
The median income in Norway came out at just under 120,000 kroner per year ($19,300), according to Gallup, well ahead of a typical income of $18,630 in Sweden, the next highest earning country.
The survey highlighted huge wage disparities across the European Union, with workers in Portugal reporting median incomes of just $5,500, barely more than a quarter of what their counterparts enjoy in Norway.
Even in relatively 'rich' European Union countries such as France and the United Kingdom the median salaries were $12,445, and $12,339 respectively, well below the Nordic countries.
By reporting median rather than mean salaries, the Gallup survey favours countries such as Norway and Sweden, where high national income is combined with relative wage equality.
Data for household incomes showed an even greater disparity, due to the greater proportion of working women in the Nordic countries, with the average Norwegian household taking in more than 316,520.904 ($51,489), compared to $31,617 in the UK and $31,112 in France.
Workers in some the world's most powerful economies also receive surprisingly low median wages, with those in China, India, Russia and Saudi Arabia receiving median incomes of $1,786, $616, $4,762, and $4,129 respectively.
Liberia in Africa had the lowest median income, with the typical worker earning just $118 a year.
Median refers to the exact centre of a range of data, so that half of the respondents earn above it and half earn below it, whereas the mean average divides the combined wages of the country by the population, meaning a handful of extremely high earners can pull up the average substantially.
Jobhunting in Norway? Browse English-language roles on The Local Jobs.
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The median income in Norway came out at just under 120,000 kroner per year ($19,300), according to Gallup, well ahead of a typical income of $18,630 in Sweden, the next highest earning country.
The survey highlighted huge wage disparities across the European Union, with workers in Portugal reporting median incomes of just $5,500, barely more than a quarter of what their counterparts enjoy in Norway.
Even in relatively 'rich' European Union countries such as France and the United Kingdom the median salaries were $12,445, and $12,339 respectively, well below the Nordic countries.
By reporting median rather than mean salaries, the Gallup survey favours countries such as Norway and Sweden, where high national income is combined with relative wage equality.
Data for household incomes showed an even greater disparity, due to the greater proportion of working women in the Nordic countries, with the average Norwegian household taking in more than 316,520.904 ($51,489), compared to $31,617 in the UK and $31,112 in France.
Workers in some the world's most powerful economies also receive surprisingly low median wages, with those in China, India, Russia and Saudi Arabia receiving median incomes of $1,786, $616, $4,762, and $4,129 respectively.
Liberia in Africa had the lowest median income, with the typical worker earning just $118 a year.
Median refers to the exact centre of a range of data, so that half of the respondents earn above it and half earn below it, whereas the mean average divides the combined wages of the country by the population, meaning a handful of extremely high earners can pull up the average substantially.
Jobhunting in Norway? Browse English-language roles on The Local Jobs.
Jobhunting in Norway? Browse English-language roles on The Local Jobs.
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