Sickness

The calculated compensation rates shown in the graphs for a single person without children compare the income after receiving sickness benefit with the income from work. With an income level at AW 50 Norway, Faroe Islands and Denmark have the highest compensation rates. With higher income levels Norway and Iceland have the highest compensation rates. 

The compensation rates in the event of absence due to sickness have been relatively stable in recent years. The largest change has taken place in Finland where the compensation rates at the highest income levels have decreased approx. 10 percentage point the years 2015 and 2017. 

In Sweden the ceiling in the sickness benefits was raised in 2022, which resulted in a higher compensation rate for the AW100 and AW 125.

The biggest change in compensation rate from lowest level of income (AW50) to highest level of income (AW125) happens in the Danish data, from almost full compensation at the lowest level of income to the lowest compensation rate at the highest level of income. 

Please refer to the section on Sickness absence, for more specific information on rules in each Nordic country.