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🇳🇴Minimum Wage in Norway: No General Statutory Minimum

Norway has no general statutory minimum wage. Minimum pay is set in collective agreements (tariffavtaler); in nine industries the minimum rates of an agreement have been made binding for the employees of the industry, with some exceptions (allmenngjøring).1,2

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Statutory national minimum wage
None1
Pay floors set by
Collective agreements, made binding in nine industries1,2
Employees covered by a collective agreement
72% (2022)5

How pay floors work instead

Under the General Application Act (allmenngjøringsloven), the Tariff Board (Tariffnemnda) can decide that a nationwide collective agreement applies, wholly or partly, to all employees doing that kind of work in an industry. The Act’s purpose is to secure foreign employees pay and working conditions equivalent to those of Norwegian employees, and the Board needs documentation that foreign employees do or may work on terms that are overall worse than those of the nationwide agreements or than is otherwise normal for the place and occupation.3

The Labour Inspection Authority (Arbeidstilsynet) lists nine industries with such statutory minimum rates, set by regulation: construction; electrical installation; the car industry (repair, service and related work), from 15 June 2026; road freight; agriculture and horticulture; accommodation, restaurants and catering; coach passenger transport; cleaning; and shipbuilding. Some regulations carry exceptions. The fish-processing regulation was repealed on 3 August 2026 and a new one is under consideration. In other industries pay is agreed individually or through collective agreements.2

Eurofound describes Norwegian wage bargaining as highly coordinated: the manufacturing Industry Agreement starts the rounds and sets a norm that the other bargaining areas follow.4

According to the OECD, 72% of the employees with the right to bargain were covered by a collective agreement in 2022.4,5

The EU minimum wage directive

Norway is not an EU member state; it is in the EEA through EFTA, and Directive (EU) 2022/2041 is addressed to EU member states (Article 19). EFTA’s EEA-Lex register lists the directive as under scrutiny for incorporation into the EEA Agreement. Eurofound reports, in a profile compiled in December 2025 and early 2026, that the directive has not been transposed into Norwegian law, that the position of the EFTA states is that it should not be included in the EEA Agreement, and that the European Commission has indicated a different position.4,6,7

See the full minimum wage ranking across Europe →

Frequently asked questions

Does Norway have a minimum wage?
Norway has no general statutory minimum wage. Minimum pay is set in collective agreements, and the Labour Inspection Authority lists nine industries with statutory minimum rates.
Which industries in Norway have a statutory minimum wage?
According to the Labour Inspection Authority, nine industries: construction; electrical installation; the car industry (repair, service and related work); road freight; agriculture and horticulture; accommodation, restaurants and catering; coach passenger transport; cleaning; and shipbuilding.
How many employees are covered by collective agreements in Norway?
According to the OECD, 72% of the employees with the right to bargain were covered by a collective agreement in 2022. Eurofound reports the same figure, with much lower coverage in private services (30 to 40%).
Does the EU minimum wage directive apply to Norway?
Norway is not an EU member state, and the directive is addressed to EU member states. EFTA lists it as under scrutiny for incorporation into the EEA Agreement.

Sources

  1. 1.Minimum wages (earn_minw): reference metadata · Eurostat ·
  2. 2.Minstelønn · Arbeidstilsynet (Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority)
  3. 3.Lov om allmenngjøring av tariffavtaler m.v. (allmenngjøringsloven), LOV-1993-06-04-58 · Lovdata ·
  4. 4.Minimum wage in Norway · Eurofound ·
  5. 5.Collective bargaining coverage (OECD/AIAS ICTWSS database) · OECD ·
  6. 6.Directive (EU) 2022/2041 on adequate minimum wages in the European Union · European Parliament and Council of the EU (EUR-Lex) ·
  7. 7.EEA-Lex factsheet: Directive (EU) 2022/2041 · EFTA

Every statement on this page cites a numbered source and was read at that source on the date shown. This page gives information, not advice. Last checked: .