Wage expenditures
 14. Jan 2022
DKK 10.6 billion paid in wages in 2021 – 3.6% growth

Wage expenditure over one billion for the first time in December 2021, record high figure for a single month.

The Covid-19 pandemic appears to have affected wage expenditures in 2020.

The annual figures for 2020 show that the wage expenditure growth has stagnated.

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As the graph below shows, the annual wage expenditure growth rate for 2021 increased by 3.6% compared to 2020. The growth rate in 2020 increased by 2.1% compared to 2019.

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The graph below shows wage expenditures in the four main industrial sectors.

The ‘governmental and other services’ sector accounted for 34.4% of the total wage expenditure in 2021, compared to 32.5% in 2020. Wage expenditures in the ‘private services’ sector increased from 29.3% in 2020 to 31.4% in 2021. The ‘construction and other manufacturing’ sector saw a decrease in wage expenditures from 16.2% in 2020 to 15% in 2021. ‘Fishery and other natural resource industries’ accounted for 18.6% of the total wage expenditure, more or less equal to the figure for 2020.

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The ‘private services’ and ‘governmental and other services’ sectors saw the highest year-on-year growth in wage expenditures, with a growth rate of 7.4% and 5.8%, respectively. The ‘construction and other manufacturing’ sector saw a year-on-year decrease of 3.9%. The ‘fishery and other natural resource industries’ sector saw a year-on-year increase of 0.5%.    

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About wage expenditures

Wage expenditures are subject to tax at source and are paid by companies based in the Faroe Islands. The statistics only cover wages for work done. Other payments and expenditures such as grants and post-employment benefits are not included.

All wage expenditures meeting the above requirements are counted in regardless of the employee’s nationality.

About the trend

The trend describes the wage expenditure trend by adjusting for seasonal effects and error components in the figures.

About the main industrial sectors

Grouped under the ‘fishery and other natural resources’ sector are the following branches: agriculture, fishing, aquaculture, extraction of raw materials, fish processing and similar activities not elsewhere indicated.

The ‘construction and other manufacturing’ sector includes: shipyards/machine shops, other manufacturing, construction, and energy and water supply.

The ‘private services’ sector includes: trade and repair, hotels and restaurants, sea transport, other transport, postal services and communications, finance and insurance, business services. household services, organisations, culture, etc.

‘Governmental and other services’ include: public administration and services (central administration, municipalities, education, health and social work), government institutions and the Ministries of Education and Health.

See more graphs
All tables (Statbank)