Software Engineer Salary in Norway: Official Pay Data 2025

What software engineers earn in Norway

Software developers (occupation 2512 in the Norwegian classification STYRK-08) had median monthly earnings of NOK 77,420 gross in November 2025, according to Statistics Norway (SSB). The mean was NOK 81,050. These figures are per full-time equivalent: SSB converts part-time pay to a full-time basis, and monthly earnings include agreed pay, irregular payments and bonuses, but not overtime. Over 12 months the median comes to NOK 929,040 a year, about €88,261 at the ECB rate of 6 November 2026 (our calculation).

The median for all occupations in Norway was NOK 55,800 a month, so software developers earn about 1.39 times the national midpoint (our calculation). A quarter of software developers earned less than NOK 63,330 a month and a quarter more than NOK 93,820. The median rose 6.8% from NOK 72,500 in November 2024, against 4.3% for all occupations (our calculation).

Pay by occupation, sex and sector

SSB counts 63,300 full-time equivalents in the wider group of software and applications developers and analysts (251), with a median of NOK 75,550 a month. Systems analysts (2511) had a median of NOK 76,330, applications programmers (2514) NOK 70,700 and web and multimedia developers (2513) NOK 62,500. Software developers' basic monthly salary, before irregular payments and bonuses, had a median of NOK 75,500, and bonuses averaged NOK 2,600 a month.

Men in software development had a median of NOK 78,670 a month and women NOK 70,000. In the private sector and public enterprises, where most software developers work, the median was NOK 77,500. Counting full-time employees only, the median was NOK 78,000.

How Norway compares in Europe

In Eurostat's Structure of Earnings Survey for 2022, professionals in the information and communication sector in Norway earned a mean of €84,544 a year, 1.47 times the EU average of €57,522 (our calculation). Denmark (€88,248) was a little higher, while Germany (€78,189), Finland (€65,145) and Sweden (€58,225) were lower. Norway had 171,100 ICT specialists in work in 2025, 5.9% of total employment, against 5.0% across the EU.

What an employer pays on top of salary

Norwegian employers pay employer's national insurance contributions (arbeidsgiveravgift) on pay. In 2026 the rate is 14.1% in zone I, which covers the areas not given a lower rate, 10.6% in zones Ia and II, 6.4% in zone III, 5.1% in zone IV, 7.9% in zone IVa and 0% in zone V, according to the Norwegian Tax Administration (Skatteetaten). The extra 5% contribution on high salaries was abolished from 1 January 2025. Employers must also pay at least 2% of pay up to 12 times the National Insurance basic amount (G) into a mandatory occupational pension (OTP). With G at NOK 136,549 from 1 May 2026, that ceiling is NOK 1,638,588 (our calculation).

For a software developer on the median of NOK 929,040 a year (12 times the November 2025 monthly figure), zone I contributions come to NOK 130,994.64 and the minimum pension NOK 18,580.80: NOK 149,575.44 a year, or 16.1% on top of pay, for a total of NOK 1,078,615.44, about €102,472 (our calculation, 2026 rates). Holiday pay is at least 10.2% of the previous year's pay (12% under 5-week collective agreements, more from age 60), but it replaces salary during the holiday rather than coming on top, so we have not added it. Insurances, sick pay costs, contributions on pension premiums and any pension above the minimum are left out.

Hiring a software engineer in Norway remotely

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Once you have chosen someone, there are 3 common ways to employ them in Norway:

• Norwegian entity: you register a company in Norway, run payroll and pay the employer's contributions and pension yourself.
• Employer of record (EOR): a third-party provider becomes the legal employer and runs Norwegian payroll for a monthly fee. Your company directs the work.
• Contractor: the person invoices you as a freelancer. The relationship has to be genuinely independent, or it can count as employment.

Euro Remote Talent does not employ people on your behalf. We find and shortlist the candidate, and you employ them through the route that fits.

Looking for a role yourself? Browse remote jobs in Norway or see how our Land a Great Remote Job program helps.

How we built these figures

SSB's earnings statistics are a full count from the a-ordningen, the monthly reports employers file to the Tax Administration, NAV and SSB, and cover all employees in companies registered in Norway, not the self-employed. The reference month is November, and bonuses and irregular payments are averaged per month from 1 January. Occupation codes describe the tasks done, not education or job title. SSB publishes monthly figures only, so annual amounts are our calculation at 12 times the monthly figure. Table 11418 does not break pay down by city, years of experience, job titles like frontend or backend engineer or remote status. The Eurostat comparison is from 2022 and covers all professionals in the information and communication sector, not software engineers alone. Euro amounts use the ECB reference rate of 6 November 2026, €1 = NOK 10.526. Where we multiply or divide, we say so.

More guides

• Hiring in Norway: employer costs and labor laws
• Average salary in Norway
• Cost of living in Norway
• Software engineer salaries in Europe, compared by country
• Remote engineering jobs open to people in Europe