Advertisement

Today in Norway For Members

Today in Norway: A roundup of the latest news on Monday

Robin-Ivan Capar
Robin-Ivan Capar - [email protected]
Today in Norway: A roundup of the latest news on Monday
Inflation is eating away at years of real wage growth in Norway. Photo by: Norwegian Central Bank (Norges Bank) / Press

Growth of real wages in Norway annulled by inflation, luggage belt problems at Gardermoen and other news from Norway on Monday.

Advertisement

The rise in prices has eaten up eight years of salary increases in Norway

Between 2015 and 2023, there will be nearly zero real wage growth in Norway. Such a weak wage development trend hasn't been registered in Norway since the 1980s.

In the aforementioned eight-year period, real wages look set to increase by just 0.4 percent overall. The rise in prices has annulled almost all of the increase in real wages, the newspaper E24 reports.

"With this development, real wages will hardly have increased since 2015. We have to go back to the 1980s to find an equally weak wage development over such a long period of time," Statistics Norway (SSB) wrote in an economic analysis.

The newspaper has spoken to researcher Thomas von Brasch at the SSB, who pointed to oil prices, the pandemic, and the war in Ukraine as three factors that explain the wage trend.

Advertisement

Problems with luggage belts at Gardermoen

There are problems with the luggage bands at Oslo Airport Gardermoen on Monday morning. This may lead to longer waiting times for all passengers, according to Avinor.

The problems with the luggage belts mean that people cannot check in luggage themselves, but have to go to a staffed counter, the newspaper VG reports.

"That may cause a bit of a wait for everyone, but if you have hand luggage, there is no problem," Erik Lødding, the head of public relations at Avinor, told the newspaper.

The problems are unlikely to affect air traffic.

Consumer Council calls for better information on the winter range of electric cars

The Norwegian Automobile Federation (NAF) winter test of 29 new electric cars shows that, on average, they lose a quarter of their range in cold conditions.

"Consumers must receive clear information about how far electric cars can drive in winter," the NAF and the Norwegian Consumer Council said.

Both organisations have long warned against blindly trusting the official range figures of electric cars.

"They are advertised with beautiful pictures of electric cars on snow and an official range of 500 kilometres. That is only part of the truth, as the real range in cold temperatures is often reduced by a quarter," Thomas Iversen of the Norwegian Consumer Council said.

He believes that car dealers must inform consumers about the general reduction in range when it gets cold.

Advertisement

Police Security Service investigating possible violations of Russia sanctions

The Norwegian Police Security Service (PST) is investigating twelve cases involving violations of the Sanctions Act and the Export Control Act. Most of the cases concern Russia.

"It is our responsibility to prosecute violations of the Sanctions Act, and we see that there has been an increase in the number of cases after the invasion of Ukraine.

"There are also cases that deal with goods that cannot be sold to Russian companies," the head of the prosecution section in the PST, Nina Bakken, told the newspaper E24.

Senior adviser Martin Bernsen said that most of the cases are related to Russia, according to the publication.

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also