National Wellbeing Strategy
Plans/strategy | Date: 16/12/2025 | Ministry of Health and Care Services
The National Wellbeing Strategy is anchored in the white paper on public health, Meld. St. 15 (2022–2023). The aim of the strategy is to provide direction for developing policies that to a greater extent take into consideration what is important, based on our current measurements of wellbeing in the population. With this National Wellbeing Strategy, the Government also wishes to facilitate an equalisation of social differences in wellbeing.
Although Norway’s population generally enjoys high wellbeing, this is unevenly distributed and for some groups the trend appears to be heading in the wrong direction. People with low education levels, with financial difficulties, who are unemployed, have mental health problems or disabilities, as well as parts of the immigrant population, Sámi people and LGBTQ+ people appear to have a lower wellbeing than the general population.
There is a need for a more even distribution of wellbeing across population groups. There is also a need for stronger and clearer efforts to combat climate change, prevent biodiversity loss and follow up the Sustainable Development Goals. This is essential for the wellbeing of both current and future generations.
This strategy describes the most important focus areas for achieving these goals. It addresses the development of a system for regular and comprehensive national, regional and local measurements of the population's wellbeing. It emphasises the importance of developing indicators that can be used to monitor developments and form the foundation for social and political decision-making.
At the same time, it discusses the challenges and uncertainties that arise from using wellbeing indicators as a basis for policymaking in contrast to more objective measurements. The strategy discusses its relation to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, public health work and the relationship between GDP and wellbeing.
Possible instruments discussed in the strategy include implementing wellbeing in legislation, a new thematic guide for the instructions for official studies and reports on health and wellbeing, the importance of cross-sectoral ownership, embedding wellbeing in various reports, and experiences from other countries that use wellbeing as a supplementary measure of societal development.
International experiences show that high-level political commitment is essential for the work on using wellbeing as part of the basis for political decisions and initiatives. The Government wishes to emphasise that this strategy is a first step along this path. It will be followed up by an action plan that ensures cross-sectoral ownership and follow-up of the focus areas and recommendations described in Chapter 7.
