13 700 persons naturalised

Published:

A total of 13 700 persons were naturalised in 2016; 1 300 more than in the previous year. Former Eritrean, Somali and Afghan citizens were the three largest groups to be naturalised in 2016. Slightly more women than men were granted Norwegian citizenship.

As in 2015, former Eritrean citizens (1 900 persons) were the largest group to be naturalised, followed by those from Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq, with 1 200, 1 000 and 800 respectively. The largest groups have a background from war-torn areas. It seems clear that the security Norwegian citizenship provides through permanent protection and the guarantee against expulsion to other countries is of great importance to persons who came to Norway either as a refugee or as the family member of a refugee.

 

Figure 1. The ten largest groups of naturalisations by previous citizenship.2016

2016
Ethiopia 428
Myanmar 440
Russia 457
Pakistan 475
Philippines 567
Thailand 677
Iraq 824
Afghanistan 999
Somalia 1200
Eritrea 1879

Small gender disparity overall

The gender disparity was small among those who were granted Norwegian citizenship - 54 per cent were women.

Among some groups, however, the proportion of women was high, with at least three out of four for women from Thailand, Philippines, Ukraine and Brazil. This is due to the fact that there are far more women than men who immigrate to Norway from these countries, and many of them immigrate to marry men without an immigrant background.

Figure 2. Naturalisations by sex. 1985-2016

Men Female
1985 1472 1379
1986 1323 1163
1987 1237 1135
1988 1772 1592
1989 2423 2199
1990 2510 2247
1991 2691 2364
1992 2731 2401
1993 2954 2584
1994 5087 3691
1995 6740 5038
1996 6598 5639
1997 6015 6022
1998 4628 4616
1999 3939 4049
2000 4579 4938
2001 4953 5885
2002 4045 4996
2003 3441 4426
2004 3697 4457
2005 6089 6566
2006 5691 6264
2007 6737 8140
2008 4690 5622
2009 5143 6299
2010 5691 6212
2011 6667 7619
2012 5787 6597
2013 6116 7107
2014 6916 8420
2015 5779 6653
2016 6276 7436

Three out of ten are children

Thirty per cent of all new citizens were children. Among former Somali citizens, 45 per cent were under the age of 18. The proportion of children was also high in the largest group, the former Eritrean citizens, with 38 per cent.

Figure 3. Naturalisation by age. 1985-2016

18 years or more 0-17 years
1985 1621 1230
1986 1297 1189
1987 1278 1094
1988 1866 1498
1989 2505 2117
1990 2559 2198
1991 2807 2248
1992 2932 2200
1993 3270 2268
1994 5285 3493
1995 7091 4687
1996 7256 4981
1997 7299 4738
1998 5464 3780
1999 4475 3513
2000 5775 3742
2001 6984 3854
2002 5967 3074
2003 5204 2663
2004 5226 2928
2005 7847 4808
2006 7190 4765
2007 9774 5103
2008 7072 3240
2009 7710 3732
2010 7672 4231
2011 9510 4776
2012 7637 4747
2013 8387 4836
2014 10579 4757
2015 8975 3457
2016 9639 4073

Contact