Earnings
How have wages developed in different sectors and industries in recent years? What is the pay level, and how is it distributed on wages, employee benefits, and pension? The index of average earnings reflects wage developments, and the earnings statistics cover pay levels and the composition of remuneration components across sectors in the Danish labour market.
Explainer on…
The standardised index of average earnings is an estimate of developments in pay levels for employees in Denmark. The standardised index is adjusted to the extent possible for structural effects caused by changes in the labour market's occupational composition, e.g. shifts of employees between industries and/or occupation. This is done by dividing employees into homogenous groups according to e.g. industry, sector and work function, and the developments in pay levels in the individual groups are weighed together with fixed weights. The standardised index of average earnings includes all employees excluding students and young people under 18 years of age. Employees with special forms of remuneration - such as those paid on a fee basis - are not included. The index includes all employees in the public sector and employees in companies in the private sector that have 10 or more employees.
The implicit index of average earnings shows the development in average earnings of employees in Denmark over time. It is calculated on the basis of a simple average of salaries of all employees within the same industry, independent of the employees' individual characteristics. This means that the implicit wage index is a so-called unit value index, where changes in the composition of employment in a given industry can affect the measured developments in pay levels. The Implicit index of average earnings covers all employees including students and young people under 18 years of age. Employees with special forms of remuneration - such as those paid on a fee basis - are not included. The index includes all employees in the public sector and employees in companies in the private sector that have 10 or more employees.
Standardised hourly earnings are standardised earnings related to standard hours. The standardised hourly earnings are the concept of earnings that comes closest to the salary that is "agreed" upon between employer and employee. The concept indicates the amount that an employee has received per hour worked, irrespective of the number of days in which the employee has been absent due to sickness or has worked hours in addition to the working time agreed. Consequently, the standardised earnings are earnings subtracted payments for overtime hours and absence.
Basic earnings, such as basic, qualification and functional earnings, etc. as well as holiday and public holiday allowances, special holiday allowance, gross allowances and optional schemes.
Time series assessed on a monthly or quarterly basis are often affected by phenomena that appear at the same time every year. The time series are said to be subject to seasonal effects. When making a seasonal adjustment, you try to remove seasonal effects from the time series.
Selected statistics on Earnings
Developments in pay levels by sector
Here you can see the percentage development in earnings among employees, both in total and by sector. The development is compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
Information from private enterprises are collected directly from the enterprises or via their payroll agencies. For members of the Confederation of Danish Employers (DA), Finance Denmark, (Finans Danmark), Insurance and Pension Denmark (F&P) and the Danish Pharmaceutical Association, data is reported in bulk from the respective associations.
First and foremost, data reported from public enterprises come from the major public payroll transfer systems (such as SLS – the government’s payroll system and KRL – the local government payroll system) supplemented by a number of private payroll processing services. E.g., payroll information from the Lutheran Church of Denmark is reported via a private payroll system.
Data collected for the annual earnings statistics (the structure of earnings survey) is used for calculation of the payroll weights in the standardised index of average earnings.
Statistics Denmark’s statistical business register (ESR) is used to determine sector, industry and number of persons employed.
The payroll reporting is collected for the middle month of each quarter. Specifically, the payroll reporting must contain the following:
- For the first quarter, the payroll period must include week 7
- For the second quarter, the payroll period must include week 20
- For the third quarter, the payroll period must include week 33
- For the fourth quarter, the payroll period must include week 46
This means that for the first quarter for employees paid monthly, the reporting must be for the month of February, whereas for employees paid every fortnight, the reporting must be for weeks 6 and 7 or weeks 7 and 8 only.
Developments in pay levels in corporations and organisations
Here you can see the percentage development in earnings among employees in corporations and organisations.
Information from private enterprises are collected directly from the enterprises or via their payroll agencies. For members of the Confederation of Danish Employers (DA), Finance Denmark, (Finans Danmark), Insurance and Pension Denmark (F&P) and the Danish Pharmaceutical Association, data is reported in bulk from the respective associations.
First and foremost, data reported from public enterprises come from the major public payroll transfer systems (such as SLS – the government’s payroll system and KRL – the local government payroll system) supplemented by a number of private payroll processing services. E.g., payroll information from the Lutheran Church of Denmark is reported via a private payroll system.
Data collected for the annual earnings statistics (the structure of earnings survey) is used for calculation of the payroll weights in the standardised index of average earnings.
Statistics Denmark’s statistical business register (ESR) is used to determine sector, industry and number of persons employed.
The payroll reporting is collected for the middle month of each quarter. Specifically, the payroll reporting must contain the following:
- For the first quarter, the payroll period must include week 7
- For the second quarter, the payroll period must include week 20
- For the third quarter, the payroll period must include week 33
- For the fourth quarter, the payroll period must include week 46
This means that for the first quarter for employees paid monthly, the reporting must be for the month of February, whereas for employees paid every fortnight, the reporting must be for weeks 6 and 7 or weeks 7 and 8 only.
Pay level by region
Corporations and organizations: For the part of the statistics which covers the majority of the private sector, the primary data is reported by business enterprises employing 10 or more full-time employees. Annual data about each individual employee's earnings and conditions of employment are reported for the calendar year under survey by these business enterprises. The primary data is collected in collaboration with the Danish Employers' Confederation, Finance Denmark and Insurance & Pension Denmark. The information is collected by the organizations from their affiliates and is passed on to Statistics Denmark. Information is also collected by Statistics Denmark from non-affiliates.
General government: For the part of the statistics which covers the majority of the public sector, the primary data is accessed from the public wage transfer systems. For the central government sector, data on absence is reported by the Agency for Public Finance and Management.
Pay level by sector
| All sectors | Government including social security funds | Regional government | Municipal government | Corporations and organizations | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | |||||
| STANDARDIZED HOURLY EARNINGS | 315.92 | 320.93 | 313.26 | 267.84 | 329.37 |
| Nuisance bonus in DKK per standard hour | 4.65 | 3.08 | 14.57 | 6.19 | 3.52 |
| Fringe benefits in DKK per standard hour | 2.13 | 0.20 | 0.07 | 0.06 | 3.18 |
| Irregular payment in DKK per standard hour | 7.29 | 6.62 | 8.17 | 4.05 | 8.24 |
| Pension including ATP in DKK per standard hour | 38.64 | 45.25 | 42.18 | 34.58 | 38.59 |
| Basic earnings in DKK per standard hour | 263.20 | 265.78 | 248.28 | 222.95 | 275.84 |
Corporations and organizations: For the part of the statistics which covers the majority of the private sector, the primary data is reported by business enterprises employing 10 or more full-time employees. Annual data about each individual employee's earnings and conditions of employment are reported for the calendar year under survey by these business enterprises. The primary data is collected in collaboration with the Danish Employers' Confederation, Finance Denmark and Insurance & Pension Denmark. The information is collected by the organizations from their affiliates and is passed on to Statistics Denmark. Information is also collected by Statistics Denmark from non-affiliates.
General government: For the part of the statistics which covers the majority of the public sector, the primary data is accessed from the public wage transfer systems. For the central government sector, data on absence is reported by the Agency for Public Finance and Management.
Distribution of earnings by industry
Corporations and organizations: For the part of the statistics which covers the majority of the private sector, the primary data is reported by business enterprises employing 10 or more full-time employees. Annual data about each individual employee's earnings and conditions of employment are reported for the calendar year under survey by these business enterprises. The primary data is collected in collaboration with the Danish Employers' Confederation, Finance Denmark and Insurance & Pension Denmark. The information is collected by the organizations from their affiliates and is passed on to Statistics Denmark. Information is also collected by Statistics Denmark from non-affiliates.
General government: For the part of the statistics which covers the majority of the public sector, the primary data is accessed from the public wage transfer systems. For the central government sector, data on absence is reported by the Agency for Public Finance and Management.
On the statistics – documentation, sources and method
See the documentation of statistics to learn more:
These statistics show the development in average earnings, calculated on the basis of an arithmetic average of salaries of all employees within the same sector and economic industry. In relation to the publication of the new Standardised index of average earnings, these indices were renamed to Implicit index of average earnings. In the new index changes in the workforce is taken into account when calculating the development in earnings.
The Implicit index of average earnings goes back to first quarter of 2005 for the private sector and first quarter of 2007 for the public sector.
Statistics Denmark has decided to discontinue the implicit index of average earnings at the beginning of 2026 with the publication of the index for the fourth quarter of 2025. Instead, users are advised to use the standardised index of average earnings, which also illustrates the development in pay level for employees in Denmark. The discontinuation of the implicit index of average earnings will not have any impact on the standardised index of average earnings, which will be the only wage index from Statistics Denmark in the future. The historical series of the implicit index of average earnings will continue to be accessible in StatBank Denmark. In order for users to handle the transition to the standardised index of average earnings, a guide (in Danish) has been prepared on how to switch from the implicit to the standardised index of average earnings in practice. It is available on Statistics Denmark's information page on indexation.
The purpose of the standardised index of average earnings is to estimate the developments in pay levels for employees in Denmark, adjusted to the extent possible for changes in the labour market’s occupational composition, e.g. shifts of employees between industries and/or occupation. The statistics are used for e.g. monitoring of business cycles, regulation of contracts, analyses of developments in pay levels as well as input in the calculation of the National Accounts.
The statistics have been prepared since 2018 with data back to the first quarter of 2016. A revised index and time series are published in May 2023 with data back from 2016.
The purpose of the structure of earnings statistics is to provide detailed information about employees' earnings analysed by level of education, occupation, region, industry and age for the entire labour market. The structural statistics on earnings form part of Statistics Denmark's coherent statistical system for earnings and labour costs. The system covers the public sector as well as corporations and organizations.