Statistikk innhold
Statistics on
Immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents
The statistics show the number of resident immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents as of 1 January every year.
Selected figures from these statistics
- Immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents, by country background. 1 JanuaryDownload table as ...Immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents, by country background. 1 January
2026 Immigrants Norwegian-born to immigrant parents Immigrants in per cent of total population Norwegian-born to immigrant parents in per cent of total population Total 987 120 238 507 17.5 4.2 Nordic countries except Norway, EU/EFTA, UK, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand 401 633 55 788 7.1 1.0 Europe except EU/EFTA and UK, Africa, Asia, America except USA and Canada, Oceania except Australia and New Zealand, polar regions 585 485 182 718 10.4 3.2 Nordic countries except Norway 70 260 7 724 1.2 0.1 EU/EFTA until 2004 except the Nordic countries 96 317 9 910 1.7 0.2 New EU countries after 2004 218 757 37 073 3.9 0.7 USA and Canada 13 610 991 0.2 0.0 Australia and New Zealand 2 689 90 0.0 0.0 Europe except for EU/EFTA/UK 154 436 26 452 2.7 0.5 Africa 112 410 49 767 2.0 0.9 Asia 288 439 102 097 5.1 1.8 America except USA og Canada 30 111 4 402 0.5 0.1 Oceania except Australia and New Zealand 89 0 0.0 0.0 Explanation of symbolsDownload table as ... - Population by immigrant category and country backgroundDownload table as ...Population by immigrant category and country background
2026 Born in Norway to Norwegian-born parents1 Immigrants Norwegian-born to immigrant parents Foreign-born with one Norwegian-born parent Norwegian-born with one foreign-born parent Foreign-born to Norwegian-born parents Total 4 003 379 987 120 238 507 41 845 317 386 39 163 Norway 3 771 840 0 0 0 0 0 Denmark 35 772 18 137 2 031 4 264 32 576 1 398 Greenland 151 200 16 52 224 30 Finland 6 737 6 904 808 511 7 373 58 Faroe Islands 1 664 609 100 106 1 224 15 Iceland 2 587 6 678 895 357 3 922 52 Sweden 39 577 37 732 3 874 7 154 47 297 5 229 Albania 49 4 024 949 3 393 7 Belgium 1 178 1 774 180 317 1 340 310 Bulgaria 197 8 179 1 140 31 1 024 50 Andorra 0 17 2 0 2 0 Estonia 163 4 732 631 68 886 2 France 2 418 7 821 753 852 4 510 333 Gibraltar 2 7 1 6 12 1 Greece 593 5 167 396 210 1 235 43 Belarus 20 1 798 339 13 426 3 Ireland 564 1 262 63 130 1 124 23 Croatia 552 5 874 1 272 29 1 143 7 Italy 1 563 6 887 506 387 2 597 110 Latvia 148 14 093 1 984 48 1 085 13 Malta 68 117 6 25 83 6 Netherlands 4 952 9 614 1 139 851 6 326 323 Liechtenstein 7 19 3 2 6 0 Luxembourg 72 76 1 38 72 71 Monaco 4 13 2 1 8 3 Poland 3 304 111 740 18 032 317 7 731 68 Portugal 388 4 751 533 115 1 064 18 Romania 341 18 893 3 347 49 1 929 143 San Marino 0 5 4 0 1 0 Lithuania 40 43 065 8 402 58 2 001 1 Spain 2 016 9 840 825 794 3 397 231 Moldova 3 2 982 488 6 197 0 United Kingdom 19 362 17 543 1 230 4 305 22 636 1 265 Russia 610 22 384 5 091 293 5 221 218 Switzerland 1 787 1 805 217 626 2 091 348 Türkiye 1 537 16 370 7 980 215 4 913 30 Germany 15 043 28 145 3 906 2 655 17 636 889 Slovenia 76 547 93 5 167 0 Ukraine 80 85 461 2 774 134 1 945 46 Hungary 2 203 4 566 963 112 1 761 351 Austria 1 661 1 552 147 256 1 639 98 Vatican City State 0 0 0 0 0 0 Bosnia-Herzegovina 473 13 822 5 381 18 2 617 1 North Macedonia 311 3 408 1 719 23 913 1 Slovakia 108 4 111 740 13 511 0 Czech Republic 914 2 576 452 54 1 087 12 Serbia 564 9 040 2 433 34 1 106 13 Montenegro 22 579 238 6 113 1 Kosovo 530 10 938 7 040 33 2 112 6 Guernsey 0 5 1 0 1 0 Jersey 0 12 0 1 0 0 Isle of Man 0 1 0 0 0 0 Algeria 393 1 478 686 20 708 3 Angola 29 605 99 27 230 2 Botswana 18 77 9 31 78 19 Saint Helena 21 2 0 2 15 0 British Indian Ocean Territory 2 1 0 0 2 0 Burundi 1 1 188 559 3 153 2 Comoros 3 6 2 0 1 0 Benin 0 39 9 2 10 0 Equatorial Guinea 0 26 0 0 2 0 Côte d'Ivore 53 340 114 9 210 33 Eritrea 372 25 819 10 488 23 499 102 Ethiopia 746 9 826 4 587 119 928 826 Egypt 348 1 897 365 49 673 11 Djibouti 8 66 62 0 5 0 Gabon 0 13 5 1 9 0 Gambia 333 1 376 689 15 841 0 Ghana 151 2 368 1 068 32 760 9 Guinea 11 369 160 0 61 0 Guinea-Bissau 7 123 20 1 37 0 Cameroon 355 726 258 8 301 128 Cape Verde 332 387 148 8 305 7 Kenya 414 2 720 498 220 1 247 209 Congo-Brazzaville 26 245 95 5 56 8 Congo 261 5 220 1 622 20 432 56 Lesotho 1 10 3 2 6 0 Liberia 87 877 406 16 199 34 Libya 24 1 142 245 8 114 4 Madagascar 1 148 200 54 59 507 235 Malawi 1 194 16 7 35 1 Mali 7 48 33 1 33 12 Morocco 1 411 6 862 5 050 82 2 850 10 Western Sahara 2 25 1 0 12 0 Mauritania 2 70 2 1 14 1 Mauritius 123 187 49 12 185 0 Namibia 19 106 2 21 80 4 Niger 2 76 19 1 40 0 Nigeria 194 2 595 817 25 899 18 Mozambique 46 197 25 18 123 9 Mayotte 0 0 0 0 0 0 Réunion 0 3 0 1 3 0 Zimbabwe 107 400 61 27 200 24 Rwanda 12 1 704 310 5 119 6 Sao Tome and Principe 0 12 0 0 0 0 Senegal 26 414 131 9 170 4 Central African Republic 0 69 6 0 1 0 Seychelles 7 17 4 4 19 0 Sierra Leone 88 499 231 4 218 2 Somalia 137 27 769 16 975 19 1 135 12 Spanish territories in Africa 0 0 0 0 0 0 South Sudan 8 658 155 1 18 1 Sudan 38 5 889 2 185 5 193 6 Eswatini 22 13 0 4 20 6 South Africa 1 305 1 636 124 293 1 343 400 Tanzania 254 868 210 88 622 98 Chad 2 70 9 1 5 0 Togo 8 128 57 1 44 1 Tunisia 313 1 363 575 25 821 9 Uganda 137 2 838 404 56 610 13 Zambia 76 522 66 64 317 38 Burkina Faso 3 34 3 0 18 3 Afghanistan 23 20 852 7 019 6 600 3 Armenia 15 468 94 2 66 3 Azerbaijan 7 903 177 8 99 3 Bahrain 9 30 6 16 27 6 Bangladesh 234 2 212 634 14 185 129 Bhutan 7 360 96 1 23 7 Brunei 17 27 4 5 8 17 Myanmar 14 3 433 1 273 2 142 2 Sri Lanka 953 9 635 6 945 68 1 384 182 United Arab Emirates 17 747 209 105 98 95 Philippines 2 795 25 673 4 240 1 458 13 072 712 Georgia 0 541 84 33 83 11 Taiwan 186 414 46 31 203 107 Hong Kong 482 852 268 81 426 141 India 2 581 19 282 5 734 190 2 310 1 347 Indonesia 527 1 926 376 126 869 181 Iraq 239 23 939 13 052 32 2 349 14 Iran 844 20 650 5 847 41 3 629 34 Israel 370 800 121 169 815 33 Japan 929 1 402 130 210 990 300 Jordan 63 1 233 299 11 132 8 Cambodia 41 517 200 32 167 4 Kazakhstan 19 1 598 258 12 228 0 China 1 582 9 903 2 793 567 2 368 2 645 North Korea 17 23 9 1 6 10 South Korea 5 838 1 495 149 453 1 684 6 021 Kuwait 15 520 226 14 100 9 Cyprus 133 264 10 40 190 9 Kyrgyzstan 0 325 78 3 78 0 Laos 2 174 27 4 78 0 Lebanon 345 3 972 1 231 54 795 14 Macao 1 56 12 1 14 0 Malaysia 193 1 198 149 92 464 44 Maldives 3 6 0 0 5 0 Mongolia 0 194 42 5 51 8 Oman 4 53 3 13 19 12 Palestine 144 3 886 1 379 55 302 7 Nepal 66 3 755 699 18 170 79 Pakistan 3 253 24 821 19 292 309 8 721 26 Timor-Leste 0 10 0 0 6 0 Qatar 6 91 32 12 8 22 Saudi Arabia 19 1 311 429 26 120 32 Singapore 238 562 51 225 400 260 Tajikistan 1 209 46 0 47 0 Turkmenistan 20 169 31 0 19 0 Uzbekistan 6 968 197 3 90 0 Syria 128 42 040 8 628 12 714 4 Thailand 1 233 23 203 1 519 1 550 9 979 479 Vietnam 2 021 14 806 9 724 154 2 884 197 Yemen 6 823 256 2 23 1 United States Virgin Islands 20 2 0 1 11 1 Barbados 16 20 0 4 29 0 Antigua and Barbuda 0 6 0 0 7 0 Belize 5 13 0 0 19 0 Bahamas 15 18 0 4 14 4 Bermuda 4 5 0 4 7 3 British Virgin Islands 2 2 0 1 2 3 Canada 3 999 2 418 190 670 3 296 661 Cayman Islands 4 5 2 2 3 0 Costa Rica 168 208 12 56 189 98 Cuba 31 1 207 167 50 768 3 Dominica 3 32 10 0 18 0 Dominican Republic 45 1 051 237 57 516 2 Franske Antiller 0 0 0 0 0 0 Grenada 21 14 3 3 31 0 Guadeloupe 0 2 0 1 4 1 Guatemala 222 252 27 49 259 208 Haiti 6 40 4 5 36 2 Honduras 52 174 35 15 125 5 Jamaica 61 173 30 13 195 5 Martinique 2 6 0 0 11 0 Mexico 205 1 993 154 155 1 281 28 Montserrat 0 6 0 0 0 0 Aruba 39 12 0 2 23 3 Sint Maarten 0 2 0 1 0 0 Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba 0 0 0 2 0 0 Anguilla 0 1 0 0 0 0 Curaçao 69 22 4 16 35 12 Nicaragua 35 260 22 30 185 12 Panama 9 103 7 10 73 2 El Salvador 35 262 67 14 147 0 Saint Pierre and Miquelon 0 0 0 0 0 0 Saint Kitts and Nevis 0 0 0 3 0 1 Saint Lucia 6 13 4 2 11 1 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 6 8 0 0 8 0 Trinidad and Tobago 435 279 17 60 440 30 Turks and Caicos Islands 0 2 0 0 2 0 United States 31 634 11 192 801 4 763 18 861 5 074 Puerto Rico 4 26 2 6 34 0 Saint Martin 0 0 0 0 0 0 Saint Barthélemy 0 0 0 0 0 0 Argentina 704 2 196 163 155 1 041 69 Bolivia 213 435 61 62 309 185 Brazil 847 7 078 568 699 4 025 523 Guyana 91 88 8 8 119 1 Chile 2 144 6 154 1 913 192 4 418 300 Colombia 2 458 3 151 307 380 1 726 3 764 Ecuador 296 787 93 59 499 225 Falkland Islands 0 2 2 0 0 0 French Guiana 0 7 0 1 8 0 Paraguay 66 156 15 24 122 28 Peru 288 1 722 198 109 1 240 191 Suriname 34 40 9 1 57 0 Uruguay 108 268 36 21 217 8 Venezuela 78 1 807 225 53 499 17 American Samoa 8 2 0 1 4 1 Australia 1 068 2 069 71 638 2 194 255 Solomon Islands 5 4 0 0 8 0 Christmas Island 8 0 0 0 0 1 Cocos (Keeling) Islands 0 0 0 0 0 0 Cook Islands 7 0 0 2 6 0 Fiji 20 35 0 6 51 0 Vanuatu 0 1 0 0 2 0 Tonga 13 7 0 0 9 0 French Polynesia 7 15 0 4 12 0 Kiribati 0 2 0 1 4 0 Tuvalu 0 0 0 0 0 0 Guam 0 1 0 0 0 0 Nauru 0 0 0 0 0 0 United States Minor Outlying Islands 0 0 0 0 0 0 New Zealand 350 620 19 126 700 23 Niue 0 0 0 0 0 0 Norfolk Island 0 0 0 0 0 0 Territory of New Guinea 0 0 0 0 0 0 Micronesia, Federated States of 13 0 0 0 6 0 Papua New Guinea 3 9 0 2 3 2 Pitcairn 0 0 0 0 0 0 Tokelau 0 0 0 0 0 0 Samoa 0 5 0 1 6 0 Wallis and Futuna Islands 0 0 0 0 0 0 New Caledonia 6 8 0 3 7 0 Marshall Islands 0 1 0 0 0 0 Palau 0 2 0 0 1 0 Northern Mariana Islands 0 0 0 0 0 0 1The foreign country background is related to grandparents’ country of birth. The person can have 1 to 4 grandparents born abroad. Grandmother / grandfather's country of birth is selected first if there are different countries of birth for grandparents. Explanation of symbolsDownload table as ...
About the statistics
The information under «About the statistics» was last updated 3 June 2021.
For more information (in Norwegian), see subchapter 1.4 in this report.
Immigrants
Persons born abroad of two foreign-born parents and four foreign-born grandparents.
Norwegian-born to Immigrant Parents are born in Norway of two parents born abroad and in addition have four grandparents born abroad.
Country of Birth
Mainly the mother's place of residence at the time she is giving birth.
Country Background
Constructed on the basis of information about the country of birth for three generations and refers to private, or mother's, or father's, or grandparents' foreign country of birth. For people born abroad this is (with few exceptions) their own native land. For people born in Norway this is their parents' country of birth. In cases where the parents have different countries of birth, the mother's country of birth is chosen.
Age, Citizenship and Period of Residence takes values the date on which the statistics are extracted. Period of Residence is stated in whole years.
Statistics Norway's use of terms in immigrant-related statistics is taken from The Statistical Standard for Classification of Persons by Immigration Background.
The following headings are used for grouping of persons with different immigrant background:
Born in Norway to Norwegian-born Parents
Immigrants
Name: Immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents
Topic: Population
Division for Population Statistics
The nation, county, municipality and urban districts of Oslo.
Annual
Files with data at the individual level are processed and stored long term.
Together with population statistics in other subject areas, the statistics helps showing changes taking place that affect the composition of the population.
In 1991 the former Ministry of Local Government and Labour (KAD) and Statistics Norway joined forces to prepare statistics on immigrants, giving rise to the Immigrant Statistics Project. Until 1996 the project was headed by a steering committee with participants from KAD, the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration and Statistics Norway.
The statistics have a broad range of users and applications such as research institutes, public administration, press, broadcasting, and private persons.
No external users have access to the statistics and analyses before they are published and accessible simultaneously for all users on ssb.no at 08 am. Prior to this, a minimum of three months advance notice is given in the Statistics Release Calendar. This is one of Statistics Norway’s key principles for ensuring that all users are treated equally.
Statistics on the immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents show population numbers. The area is clearly connected with migration statistics. Immigration and emigration numbers can be found in the Migration Statistics for each calendar year.
The Quarterly Migration Statistics should also be mentioned. These numbers are provisional, but provide a picture of the changes taking place.
People immigrate on different bases, some are refugees and others have immigrated because of work, education, family
Statistics Act § 10
Covers all persons who neither have parents nor grandparents born in Norway registered as a resident of Norway on 1 January (for more about the definition resident, read below the point “Definitions”, here).
Asylum seekers and persons on short-term stays (less than six months) are not registered as residents in the population register and thus not included in the statistics.
The statistics are based on population register data.
Since 1946 each municipality has had a local population registry that registers all residents in the municipality pursuant to the Population Registration Act and its regulations. The population registries receive reports of births, deaths, marriages, divorces, migration etc. from various sources.
The National Population Register was built up from 1964 to 1966 on the basis of the 1960 census, at the same time as the 11-digit national identity number was introduced as identification. The register contained everyone included in the population census and subsequently everyone who has lived in Norway since 1 October 1964. In 1995 the Central Population Register (CPR) at the Directorate of Taxes took over as the official register. The Central Office of the National Registry was transferred from Statistics Norway (SSB) to the Directorate of Taxes in 1991.
The updates in the CPR are done by the local population registry offices and the Tax Administration, and updates SSB’s own population database daily. Before January 1998, updates were done monthly. Before May 1995 SSB received messages on tape.
In addition to the checks made by the CPR, Statistics Norway performs checks for statistical purposes.
The numbers in this production are not seasonally adjusted.
If a number in a table consists of three or fewer units and disclosing these units can lead to identification of individuals, the number is rounded up or the table cell left empty.
Time: The numbers are comparable from 1995, the first year the statistics were released.
Place: Statistics Norway provides statistics for each municipality. Because the mass is small, numbers are less useful in analyses of the smallest geographical levels.
In many municipalities, particularly the small, numbers can vary widely from year to year, often due to the localization of the reception centers.
Some errors made during the collecting and processing of the data are unavoidable and include coding, data processing errors etc. Extensive efforts have been made to minimize these errors and we regard these types of errors to be relatively insignificant.
Persons without legal residence in Norway are omitted. Estimates of this group's size are very uncertain. The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration and Oxford Research AS estimated in 2014 that between 18,100 and 56,000 people are staying illegally in Norway. More on this (in Norwegian) in Chap. 6 in the report A Marginal Problem?
The quality of the data from the National Population Register is generally very good for statistical purposes. Two objections are nevertheless delayed messages and registration of residence. Delayed messages cause events to be recorded and counted in the wrong calendar year. This becomes less problematic when one adds numbers over several years.
When a person who is registered as resident in Norway will move abroad, he must report the move to the Population Register. Some people fail to do that.


