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 reaching a low of 3.1% in the spring 2022. Since then, unemployment has risen and now stands at 3.9%, which is around the same as pre-pandemic levels.
Lower unemployment than in most other countries
Unemployment has fallen in most European countries over the past years is currently around 6% on average in the EU, according to the latest data from Eurostat.
Norway has traditionally had one of the lowest unemployment rates in Europe, with the latest data showing that despite recent increases Norway still has a significantly lower unemployment rate than other Scandinavian 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.