Population: 5.3 million
- Ranks top in personal security and ranks above the average in subjective well-being, environmental quality, jobs and earnings, income and wealth, education and skills, housing, work-life balance, civic engagement, social connections, and health status.
- Average household net-adjusted disposable income per capita is USD 35,725 a year, higher than the OECD average of USD 33,604 a year. There is a considerable gap between the richest and poorest – the top 20% of the population earn four times as much as the bottom 20%.
- About 74% of people aged 15 to 64 in Norway have a paid job, above the OECD employment average of 68%, and one of the highest rates in the OECD. Some 76% of men are in paid work, compared with 72% of women. In Norway, about 3% of employees work very long hours, much less than the OECD average of 11%, with 4% of men working very long hours compared with just 1% of women.
- 82% of adults aged 25-64 have completed upper secondary education, higher than the OECD average of 78%. This is slightly truer for women than men, as 81% of men have successfully completed high-school compared to 83% of women. In terms of the quality of the education system, the average student scored 504 in reading literacy, maths and science in the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), slightly higher than the OECD average of 486. On average in Norway, girls outperformed boys by 13 points, wider than the average OECD gap of 2 points.
- Life expectancy at birth in Norway is 83 years, three years higher than the OECD average of 80 years. Life expectancy for men is 81 years, compared with 84 for women.
- Level of atmospheric PM2.5 – tiny air pollutant particles small enough to enter and cause damage to the lungs – is 4.6 micrograms per cubic meter, considerably lower than the OECD average of 13.9 micrograms per cubic meter.
- Water quality: 98% of people say they are satisfied with the quality of their water, compared with the OECD average of 81%, and one of the highest rates in the OECD.
- Strong sense of community and high levels of civic participation in Norway, where 94% of people believe that they know someone they could rely on in time of need, more than the OECD average of 89%. Voter turnout, a measure of citizens’ participation in the political process, was 78% during recent elections, higher than the OECD average of 68%. Social and economic status can affect voting rates; voter turnout for the top 20% of the population is an estimated 90% and for the bottom 20% it is an estimated 76%, broadly in line with the OECD average gap of 13 percentage points.
- General satisfaction with life on a scale from 0 to 10: 7.6 grade on average, much higher than the OECD of 6.5.