STAVANGER, Norway — A longstanding tax on net wealth has emerged as the defining issue in Norway’s closely contested election, with center-left Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre’s Labor Party defending a levy that has existed since 1892 and a right-wing bloc pressing for cuts or outright abolition.
About 4.3 million of the country’s roughly 5.6 million residents were eligible to vote for the 169-seat Storting on Monday. Official results were expected on Tuesday, and analysts said any outcome would likely be followed by weeks of bargaining to form a coalition and fill cabinet posts. Observers expect the vote to have limited impact on Norway’s foreign policy; the country remains a stalwart NATO member and a strong backer of Ukraine.
The contested wealth tax is levied at up to 1.1% on assets and shares above 1.76 million kroner (about $176,000), though the assessment takes account of debt and property and includes various reductions and discounts. Labor says eliminating the tax would reduce state revenues by about 34 billion kroner (roughly $3.3 billion) a year. Norway is one of only three members of the 38-nation Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development that still imposes a net-wealth tax.
Labor argues the levy is a key tool for addressing inequality and funding Norway’s welfare state. The party enlisted former Prime Minister and then-recently returned finance minister Jens Stoltenberg as a high-profile champion during the campaign; his return in February coincided with about a 10-point rise in Labor’s polling, party officials said. Stoltenberg told public broadcaster NRK in a pre-election debate that many of the wealthiest Norwegians would pay "almost nothing" if the tax were scrapped.
On the right, the Conservative Party favors reducing the tax, while the Progress Party calls for its complete abolition. Progress Party leader Sylvi Listhaug said the levy penalizes entrepreneurs who may hold valuable stakes in companies but draw little income. "The money paid in wealth tax could have been spent creating businesses, new jobs and more innovation," Listhaug wrote in an email to The Associated Press. Polling during the campaign showed the Progress Party leading the Conservatives.
The debate over the tax has engaged voters across generations but has been especially amplified among younger Norwegians through social media. Influencers and popular YouTube channels that reach young men, such as Gutta (The Guys), have hosted party leaders and criticized the tax. Bernt Aardal, an election researcher and professor at the University of Oslo, said resentment grew after a 2022 adjustment to the tax prompted some ultra-wealthy Norwegians, including billionaire Kjell Inge Røkke, to relocate to Switzerland.
"There was a growing resentment that some rich people did not pay or take part in the funding of the welfare state as they should," Aardal said, adding that younger voters who are not directly affected by the tax nonetheless cite it as a main issue.
Norway’s broader economic context shaped the debate. The country ranks among the world’s wealthiest per capita and manages one of the globe’s largest sovereign wealth funds, worth about 20 trillion kroner (roughly $2 trillion). Still, inflation has been a concern: Norway’s central bank reported a 12-month Consumer Price Index increase of 3.3%, above its 2% target.
Campaigners on both sides argued their approach would protect Norway’s prosperity. Labor warned that repealing the tax would widen inequality and strain budgets for public services. Right-leaning parties countered that the tax discourages investment and entrepreneurship and that lower taxes would stimulate growth.
Analysts said the election outcome will determine whether the wealth tax endures, is pared back, or is phased out, but any major change would come only after coalition negotiations and legislative debate. Regardless of the configuration of power in Oslo, Norway’s commitments to NATO and support for Ukraine are expected to remain steady.
Final tallies and seat distributions were due from election authorities on Tuesday, with parties preparing for the negotiations that historically follow Norwegian national votes.