Comparability

Comparability - geographical

As far as we know, no other countries produce earnings indices that are designed in the same way as the standardised index of average earnings. However, some countries have earnings or labour cost indices for roughly the same purpose and using roughly the same structure. Mention may be made of the Employment Cost Index (USA) and the Wage Price Index (Australia).

Both indices were used as inspiration when developing the standardised index of average earnings, but since data is collected in a different way, the standardised index cannot be compared directly with these.

Comparability over time

The index goes back to the first quarter of 2016.

In connection with the release of Standardised index of average earnings for the second quarter of 2026, Statistics Denmark has implemented a new method for including free choice contributions in the hourly earnings measure used to calculate changes in earnings.

Free Choice Accounts have existed in the private sector for a number of years and, over time, these schemes have been expanded and now account for a significant share of employees’ earnings.

For periods prior to the second quarter of 2026, Statistics Denmark applied a macro-level adjustment based on an estimated effect of Free Choice Accounts. This adjustment was added to the change in earnings in the calculation for the second quarter, when increases in free choice contributions under collective agreements have most commonly taken effect. The adjustment was applied to the part of the data originating from member companies of the Confederation of Danish Employers (DA). No corresponding adjustment was made for the effect of Free Choice Accounts on earnings data from companies that are not members of the Confederation of Danish Employers (DA), as sufficient data were not available to support such a calculation. Since 2024, reporting amounts paid into employees’ Free Choice Accounts has been mandatory, and from 2026 the quality of the reported data is sufficiently high to allow this component of earnings to be included in the hourly earnings measure. This means that, from the second quarter of 2026, free choice contributions are included at the micro level in the calculation of hourly earnings used to calculate changes in earnings. The implementation of the new method provides more complete coverage, as reported Free Choice Account data from both companies reporting through DA and companies whose earnings data are collected by Statistics Denmark are included in the data basis. This will provide a more accurate calculation of changes in earnings.

Coherence - cross domain

Up to and including the fourth quarter of 2025, Statistics Denmark published the implicit index of average earnings in parallel with the standardised index of average earnings. The two wage indices are related, as the implicit index of average earnings was based on the same data source and applied the same earnings and hours concepts in the calculation of average earnings.

However, the two indices differ in that the implicit index of average earnings was a so-called unit value index, where developments in pay levels were calculated on the basis of a simple average of salaries of all employees within the same industry, regardless of the employees’ individual characteristics. Consequently, changes in the composition of employment within a given industry could affect the measured developments in pay levels in the implicit index.

The standardised index of average earnings is constructed with inspiration from price index theory, whereby employees are divided into homogeneous groups according to, among other things, occupation and type of remuneration, and where developments in pay levels within the individual groups are weighted together using fixed weights. In this way, the measured developments in pay levels are not affected to the same extent by changes in the composition of employment in the labour market.

In addition, the implicit index of average earnings differed from the standardised index of average earnings in terms of population coverage, as students and young persons under 18 years of age were included in the implicit index of average earnings but not in the standardised index of average earnings. At the same time, there are also differences in the validation rules and weighting basis applied in the two indices.

The implicit index of average earnings has been discontinued and will therefore no longer be updated with new reference periods. The StatBank Denmark tables containing the implicit index of average earnings remain available in the StatBank under archived tables.

The standardised index of average earnings is also related to the Danish's National Accounts as input for the fixed price calculations.

Coherence - internal

The same concepts are used across sectors and industries, and apart from an extended validation of reports from key enterprises in the private sector, the methodological choices are also the same across sectors and industries.