Tipping isn’t expected in Norway in the same way it is in other countries. This is due to the high minimum wage offered to hospitality workers.

But if you’ve received excellent service and want to show your appreciation, then you are always welcome to leave a tip.

Different methods of tipping

Some restaurants add a service charge. If a service charge has been added, you shouldn’t feel obliged to leave a tip unless you’ve had a perfect time or excellent service.

Service charges will be most common in big cities, areas with many tourists, or for larger bookings.

Given that almost all transactions in Norway take place with card, the first opportunity to tip will be presented at the card terminal when you pay the bill.

Typically, the terminal will show you the amount you owe, and ask you to input how much you wish to pay. This is the most common at restaurants and bars. Even though the terminal may feel like an invitation to tip, you still don’t have to – especially if paying for a couple of beers.

Unfortunately, some who do want to tip tend to miss this opportunity as it isn’t always explicitly stated as an opportunity to tip.

Some card readers may do things the other way, taking payment and offering the user the opportunity to add a tip at the end.

Coffee shops and the like generally don’t have such a system, and may have a regular tip jar for loose cash and change. Cash tips are a rare thing in Norway these days. A lot of businesses also no longer take cash.

If you want to leave a cash tip and the premises don’t take cash, they may thank you for your kindness and politely decline.

One form of tipping that has become more prevalent is ordering at a counter, waiting at the counter, and then paying at the counter. At the counter, you are presented with a tablet on which you choose the percentage you wish to tip.

Tipping here feels obligatory, but really leaving no tip is perfectly fine. Locals typically don’t leave tips in these scenarios.

So, how much should you tip?

Tipping is optional in Norway, as hospitality is one of the few professions in Norway with a minimum wage. Other sectors don’t have a minimum wage, as large numbers of employees are unionised.

However, due to the low levels of union members in hospitality, large turnover, and high proportion of foreign workers there is a minimum wage of 190 kroner per hour.

If you want to recognise that someone has gone above and beyond or simply brightened your day, a tip of around ten percent is considered a good tip rather than the minimum.

Even then, you wouldn’t be expected to tip ten percent everywhere. Ten percent would be good for a nice meal at a restaurant. In other places, five percent is also a decent to good tip to leave.

For smaller bills and transactions, you can always round up rather than do a percentage. If you had a bill for 290 kroner, you could round up to the nearest 50 or 100 kroner, which would still be greatly appreciated.

Where do the tips go?

Almost all establishments collect tips to be shared among all or most staff. The tips are then split among staff based on their share of the hours worked.

The tips will then be added to the workers’ wage slips for them to see, and the government will tax them as they are considered a taxable income.

Despite tips being taxed, this shouldn’t serve as an encouragement to leave a bigger tip than you were thinking of originally or to tip more frequently.

Additionally, staff are taxed on the tips they receive rather than the tips they are expected to receive. This means they do not need to make a certain amount in tips to avoid being overtaxed.

Furthermore, tips are not considered to be part of the minimum wage that workers in hospitality earn. Tips are, therefore, a bonus on top of their minimum wage.