Since 2020, the cost of living in Tromsø has risen by 112,765 kroner. That is an increase of 86 per cent.
Tromsø is the most expensive municipality in Troms and Finnmark to live in. Here, essential housing costs amount to 244,581 kroner (approximately $26,100 or €23,300), according to Nordlys. They have sourced the figures from the Housing Cost Index, which has been compiled by Samfunnsøkonomisk Analyse on behalf of Huseierne.
– The rise in recent years is still being felt in people’s wallets. Many homeowners have done everything right: saved, bought a home and looked after it. Nevertheless, it has become much more expensive to live, and there is less left over for everyday life. The figures confirm that times have become tighter for many, says Børge Martinussen, district manager for Huseierne in Troms and Finnmark, in a press release.
From 2020 to 2025, the average wage rose by 26.16 per cent. In 2020, an average household in Norway spent 22 per cent of its income – after tax – on essential housing costs. This year, the figure stands at 31 per cent.
– There has been much debate about whether people are better or worse off. When rising housing costs affect both day-to-day finances and the ability to maintain one’s own home, it is a serious warning sign, says Martinussen, who believes politicians must take this seriously.
– We fear that many politicians lack an overview of what it actually costs to live in their municipality. Each charge is approved separately, but it is the homeowners who are left with a pile of bills they cannot opt out of.
Housing costs include expenses relating to interest, energy, insurance, property tax and maintenance, in addition to local authority charges. In all these areas, costs have skyrocketed, largely due to the power cables to Europe and England that opened in 2021.
Municipal charges have risen sharply. The bill for water and sewage has increased by 98 per cent on Skjervøy in Troms. In Finnmark, Karasjok has been hardest hit, with a rise of as much as 177 per cent.
“Politicians must take these figures to heart and help to curb this trend wherever they can,” says Martinussen.
The same trend across the country
Looking at the national average, housing costs have risen from 122,209 kroner in 2020 to 225,245 kroner in 2026. This represents an increase of just over 103,000, or 84 per cent.
In Stavanger, one of the cities hardest hit by persistently high energy prices, the cost has risen from 120,031 kroner to 243,999 kroner, an increase of 103 per cent.
In the capital, annual housing costs stand at a staggering 334,722, having risen by 97.6 per cent over the same period.
Admittedly, house prices in Oslo have fallen slightly over the last two years, but this does not help those who already own a heavily mortgaged property – quite the opposite, in fact. Tenants are being hit hard by the sharp rise in rents.
Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg attempted to appease Norwegian taxpayers with a few kroner’s worth of tax relief in the 2027 national budget, but compared with the enormous increases in expenditure, these relief measures have a microscopic effect.
Moreover, these income tax relief measures are funded by increases in other taxes. Stoltenberg, who is a qualified social economist, is well aware of this. It may therefore appear that the Finance Minister is misleading the public.
