Unemployment benefit in Norway (dagpenger): rules, pay and duration
By Kalkulatorbanken · Last updated
Figures and rules are for 2026 and checked against the sources at the bottom of the page. Norwegian version of this guide.
Unemployment benefit (dagpenger) replaces part of your pay when you lose your job or a large part of your hours. In 2026 NAV pays up to 62.4% of your earlier income, counted up to 6G (NOK 819,294), for up to 104 weeks. You must have earned at least NOK 204,824 in the last 12 months or NOK 409,647 over the last 36, be under 67, live in Norway and have Norwegian national insurance coverage. For people who have worked in other EEA countries, the rules can add those periods.
Prefer to run your own numbers? Open the Norway Unemployment Benefit Calculator 2026.
In short
- You need to have lost at least 50% of your working hours and have earned at least NOK 204,824 (1.5G) in the last 12 months or NOK 409,647 (3G) in the last 36 months.
- The benefit is 62.4% of your income up to 6G. A period of 104 weeks needs income of at least NOK 273,098 (2G); otherwise it is 52 weeks.
- Self-employment income does not count. Salary from your own limited company does.
- Periods of work and insurance in other EEA countries can count, documented by a PD U1 certificate. You normally cannot receive the benefit from NAV while living abroad.
Who qualifies
You may get unemployment benefit if you are unemployed or temporarily laid off and all of this applies: you have lost at least 50% of your total working hours, you have lost income or your income has been reduced, you have earned the minimum amount, and you are under 67. If you have several jobs, the 50% is measured on your combined hours.
To receive the benefit you must apply, register as a job seeker, live in Norway with Norwegian national insurance coverage, submit an employment status form (meldekort) every 14 days, and be a genuine job seeker. The income that counts is salary, and parental benefit, pregnancy benefit and pregnancy-related sickness benefit paid to you as an employee. Self-employment income, work assessment allowance, earlier unemployment benefit, sick leave and attendance allowance do not count towards the minimum.
Worked example
The table shows how the minimum works for someone who has worked only in Norway, at NOK 45,000 a month, and then loses the job. The calculator functions are those used by the unemployment benefit calculator.
| Months worked | Income | Qualifies? | Per working day | Period | Deductible |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | NOK 180,000 | No | – | – | – |
| 5 | NOK 225,000 | Yes | NOK 555 | 52 weeks | NOK 1,665 |
| 6 | NOK 270,000 | Yes | NOK 667 | 52 weeks | NOK 2,001 |
| 10 | NOK 450,000 | Yes | NOK 1,111 | 104 weeks | NOK 3,333 |
Four months of work is below the NOK 204,824 minimum. Five months qualifies, but the income is below NOK 273,098, so the period is 52 weeks. Ten months gives 104 weeks and a higher daily rate. The deductible is the amount of 3 days of benefit, subtracted from your first payment.
How much you get, and how it is paid
You may get up to 62.4% of your past income, and income over 6G is not counted. The basic amount (G) calculator shows what 1G, 2G and 6G are in 2026. If you support children under 18 you get a child supplement of NOK 38 per child per day, five days a week, even if the child does not live with you. The child must live in Norway or another EEA country, Switzerland or Great Britain, and you lose the supplement if the child spends more than 90 days in 12 months outside those countries.
Payment is made every 14 days, one to three business days after you send the employment status form. NAV's expected processing time for an application is currently 7 weeks, and you receive back payment from the day you became entitled. The benefit is taxable, so update your tax deduction card when the payments fall: see the tax deduction card guide and the income tax calculator. Unemployment benefit gives a holiday supplement rather than ordinary holiday pay. To qualify you must have received it for more than 8 weeks the year before, and it is normally paid in June.
How long: 104 or 52 weeks
NAV uses the better of your income in the last 12 months and your average over the last 36 months. If you had at least NOK 273,098 (2G), you may receive the benefit for up to 104 weeks. If you had less, you may receive it for up to 52 weeks. If you worked and then became unemployed again, you continue on the weeks you were granted before, and the notice you receive when your application is granted states how long your period is.
If you quit or were dismissed
Apply two weeks before your last paid day, or at the latest on the day you stop being entitled to pay, to avoid losing days. If you quit without reasonable cause, or were personally responsible for your dismissal, you do not get benefit for the first 18 weeks. Health problems and bullying or harassment are examples of reasonable cause, but you must document them. You must apply first; NAV then decides.
Working while you are unemployed
If you work within 50% of your regular hours, your benefit is reduced for each hour you report on the employment status form. If you work more than that in a form period, you get no benefit for that period.
If you have lived or worked in several countries
What this means if you are new to Norway
- You must live in Norway and have Norwegian national insurance coverage. There are exceptions for EEA citizens, for example if you worked in Norway and travelled home, or if you return to Norway after working in another EEA country.
- If you lose your job in Norway and move home to another EEA country, you apply for unemployment benefit there. Your home country asks NAV to confirm your working and insurance periods. If it does not, you can apply for a PD U1 certificate yourself, and NAV says the processing time is currently 8 weeks.
- If you worked in another EEA country, Switzerland or the United Kingdom and then lose that job while living in Norway, you can transfer your unemployment rights. NAV needs information about your jobs in the last 36 months, normally a PD U1 certificate from the other country.
- If you quit a job in another EEA country to move to Norway with a spouse or partner who found a job here, you may qualify for benefit without becoming unemployed in Norway.
Travelling abroad is limited: if you go on holiday you do not receive benefit for the days away. For a job interview in an EEA country you may keep it for up to 3 days if you tell NAV before you go. If you move abroad to look for work, you can in some cases keep the Norwegian benefit for up to 3 months. If you cannot work at all, see the sick pay guide and the work assessment allowance calculator.
Calculate with your own numbers
Norway Unemployment Benefit Calculator 2026 uses the 2026 rates and shows the working step by step. It takes under a minute. You do not need to log in or have BankID, and what you type stays in your browser.
Calculate your unemployment benefit →