The increased demand for labour since the middle of 2021 contributed to the unemployment rate falling below pre-pandemic levels at the start of 2022. Since spring 2022, unemployment started to rise standing a 3.5% in April 2023 (103 000 persons), 12 000 more than in April 2022. However, in the last two months has remained relatively stable.
The increasing trend seen during 2022 is especially prevalent amoung youth (15-24) where the unemployment rate now stands at above 11% compared to around 9% in spring last year.
Lower unemployment than in most other countries
Unemployment has fallen in most European countries during 2021 and 2022 and is currently around 6% on average in the EU, according to the latest data from Eurostat. This is a decrease from the pandemic peak of nearly 8% reached in autumn 2020.
Norway has traditionally had one of the lowest unemployment rates in Europe, with the latest internationally comparable data showing that despite recent increases Norway still has a significantly lower unemployment rate than other Scandinavian and European countries and the EU average.
While youth unemployment in Norway is also low compared to other countries, it is much closer to the EU average than the unemployment rate for the overall population.
About the data
Data on unemployment are from Statistics Norway “Labour Force Survey“.
International data on unemployment are from Eurostat.
The increased demand for labour since the middle of 2021 contributed to the unemployment rate falling below pre-pandemic levels at the start of 2022. Since spring 2022, unemployment started to rise standing a 3.5% in April 2023 (103 000 persons), 12 000 more than in April 2022. However, in the last two months has remained relatively stable. The increasing trend seen during 2022 is especially prevalent amoung youth (15-24) where the unemployment rate now stands at above 11% compared to around 9% in March last year.
Lower unemployment than in most other countries
Unemployment has fallen in most European countries during 2021 and 2022 and is currently around 6% on average in the EU, according to the latest data from Eurostat. This is a decrease from the pandemic peak of nearly 8% reached in autumn 2020.
Norway has traditionally had one of the lowest unemployment rates in Europe, with the latest internationally comparable data showing that despite recent increases Norway still has a significantly lower unemployment rate than other Scandinavian and European countries and the EU average.
While youth unemployment in Norway is also low compared to other countries, it is closer to the EU average than the unemployment rate for the overall population.
About the data
Data on unemployment are from Statistics Norway “Labour Force Survey“.
International data on unemployment are from Eurostat.