Summary
The population
For quite some time, censuses have been the most important source of statistical information about the population. Since a national population register was established in the mid-1960s, it has been the main source of statistical data on the size and composition of the population.
Censuses
Norway's first general census was conducted in 1769. However, in 1664-1666 and in 1701 censuses had been taken of all men in the rural districts. Those counts formed the basis for calculating the total population in the census years.
Censuses were conducted in 1801 and 1815, then every ten years up to and including 1875. The next census was held in 1890, and censuses have been arranged at the beginning of every decade since that time with the exception of in 1940, when the census had to be postponed until 1946 because of the war.
The 1801 census and all the counts from 1865 and later were nominative, i.e. the information was linked to the name of each individual person. Enumerators were used until 1970. Since 1980, however, questionnaires have been sent out and returned by post.
In the more recent censuses, an increasing share of the data is collected from administrative and statistical registers, first and foremost the National Population Register.
In connection with the 1990 Population and Housing Census, information that could not be taken from the registers was estimated on the basis of data collected from a representative sample of some 28 per cent of the population.
Prior to 1970, censuses usually provided figures on both resident (de jure) and present (de facto) populations. This is part of the reason why there are some slight deviations between figures that refer to the same variables in different tables.
The results from the 1769 census were published for the first time in 1980 (NOS - The First Population Census in Norway 1769). That same year a new issue of figures from the 1801 census was published by Statistic Norway (NOS Population Census 1801 Reprocessed), based on a computer registration of all the individual data.
The results of subsequent censuses have also been published in the NOS series (NOS stands for Norway's Official Statistics). Several special theme analyses are usually published in connection with each census. A number of special census data analyses have also been published in other series from Statistics Norway.
Registers and sample surveys
From 1964 to 1966 a central register (The National Population Register) was built up with census statistics covering all the inhabitants of Norway. An 11 digit PIN (personal identification number) was introduced for identification purposes. The Office of the National Registrar, which since 1991 is administratively placed under the Directorate of Taxes, is in charge of maintaining and operating the register.
The National Population Register has been used as a source of population statistics since 1968 and it is now the main source of Norway's population statistics.
Using sample surveys, Statistics Norway elicits information on the population's distribution by characteristics that cannot be extracted from registers and which have not been included in the censuses.
Population growth
Norway had a population of 440 000 in 1665. The country reached the million mark in 1822. Then the population doubled over the next 68 years. High emigration and declining fertility curbed growth somewhat just after the turn of the century, although the population continued to grow fairly rapidly until 1975 when the 4 million mark was reached. Since then, population growth has slowed down significantly, and the population was 4.3 million in 1993.
Past and current trends imply a rapid ageing of the population. The proportion under the age of 16 changed little during the 1800s, but dropped from 37 per cent in 1910 to 30 per cent in 1930, declining all the way to 20 per cent by 1990. The proportion of those aged 67 or older began rising already in the mid - 1800s, from some 4 1/2 per cent to some 6 1/2 per cent by 1900, then to nearly 14 1/2 per cent in 1990. The 16-66 age group increased from 56 per cent in 1900 to 69 per cent in 1940. After remaining stable at about 63 per cent for a couple of decades after the end of the 1950s, the percentage climbed to some 65 per cent in 1990.
Births, deaths, marriages and migration
Until the end of the 1960s, the statistics on births, deaths and marriages were based on reports that clergymen had been required to send in ever since 1685.
In 1946 a local population registry was established in every municipaltiy that covered all those resident in the municipality. The population registries were updated by reports on births, deaths, marriages and migration. All reports were forwarded to Statistics Norway. Once the National Population Register was established in the 1960s, the local population registries sent their reports to that register, which subsequently became the predominant source of current population statistics.
The time series in this chapter contain some discontinuities, mainly due to differences in the definition of age. Prior to 1961 the most common practice by far was to take the respondent's age at the end of the year, but in 1961 the system was changed to apply to the respondent's age at the time of the event.
Births
Until 1865 clergymen sent in only summary reports on births, deaths and marriages. In 1866 they were required to send in nominative reports. Since 1983 the civilian registration of births has been the job of the local population registries.
Up until the turn of the century, the annual number of live births increased more or less in proportion to the general population increase. Then the growth came to an end, and during most of the years from 1900 to 1993, there have been approximately 60 000 births per year. However, the figures were lower during two periods, 1925-1943 and 1975-1988, and higher (approaching 70 000) during a few years. Since 1990 the figures have stabilized once again at roughly 60 000.
During the present century, the total fertility rate has sunk from slightly more than 4 to well under 2.Women born early in the last century gave birth to an average of 4 1/2 children. Cohort fertility dropped to about 2 for the women born in the first decades of this century, periodically dipping below the reproduction rate. It seems unlikely that any of the cohorts born from 1950 to the late-1960s will manage to reproduce enough to replace themselves.
Deaths
The local population registry receives copies of all official certificates of death. Since 1939 these certificates have also included a medical declaration on cause of death.
After 1814, Norway's mortality rate dropped to less than 20 per 1 000 per year, and the large fluctuations in the number of deaths gradually disappeared. A moderate decline gained momentum towards the end of the century and continued until about 1953, when the annual mortality rate was 8 1/2 per 1 000 population.
From 1820 to 1850, the average life expectancy for women and men as a whole was 46 years. Life expectancy has climbed rapidly since then, with a levelling off coming after WWII. The average life expectancy in 1991/92 was 77 years. While women's average life expectancy was 3 to 3 1/2 years longer than men's up to 1955, the gap was now risen to 6 years.
Mortality has declined for all age groups, but the decline has been particularly pronounced for infant mortality. From a level of approximately 1 of 10 newborns dying before their first birthday, that figure was cut by half by the 1920s. Since the end of the 1970s, an average of 1 in 100 newborns does not live to see its first birthday (1993:1 in 200).
Marriages, divorces and separations
The statistics on marriages also include marriages contracted in religious congregations outside the Church of Norway and those performed by justices of the peace.
The marriage pattern in Norway was relatively stable until the mid-1930s, when the country saw a surge in marriages among the under-30 age groups which lasted all the way to the early 1960s. In the early 1970s, the increase in the marriage rate for the under-30 age groups came to a sharp halt and a subsequent rapid decline brought the marriage rate to an all-time low. The new factor was the widespread distribution and social acceptance of cohabitation without marriage.
The spread of cohabitation without marriage was followed by a strong increase in the proportion of births out of wedlock. The proportion, which saw a minimum of 3 1/2 per cent in 1955, has since risen strongly to 44 per cent in 1993.
The number of divorces has risen from slightly more than 100 annually around the turn of the century, to some 1 000 when the war broke out in 1940, and on to more than 10 000 per year since 1990.
Migration
The historical data on migration include only migration to or from other parts of the world (overseas migration). Since 1951, the population registers have made it possible to compile statistics on migration between Norwegian municipalities and to and from foreign countries. Due to insufficient reporting, it is assumed that the figures referring to emigration are somewhat low.
Norway has kept statistics since 1977 on those who have been granted Norwegian nationality. The statistics are based on reports to the National Population Register.
Emigration from Norway to foreign countries, mainly the USA, really picked up in the last third of the 1800s. Mass emigration continued all the way into the 1920s.
From 1931 to 1970, immigration and emigration more or less offset each other most years. Statistics Norway did not produce figures for all immigration and emigration until 1951, so net figures have been available since then. Net immigration began to increase in 1971, reaching a level of 4 000 to 5 000 per year up to 1985. Since then there have been major fluctuations. The average was 7 000 per year for the period from 1986 to 1992.
Most immigrants arriving in Norway come from neighbouring Nordic countries and other European countries. That is also where most of the emigrants move. Since the 1970s, Norway has received numbers of immigrants from Third World countries.
Families and households
In the early 1970s, the National Population Register introduced a family identification number that links all members of the same family, i.e. spouses with or without children, mothers with children or fathers with children. A single person is also considered a family. Since 1975, this has formed the basis for the preparation of family statistics.
Cohabitants who are not married to one another are before 1987 considered to be single persons or mothers/fathers with children. However, since 1987 people who have children together and are registered as residing at the same address are also registered as a separate type of family.
The National Population Register does not provide information for statistics on households. Thus apart from sample surveys, the censuses still remain the sole source of statistical data on household. The censuses of 1920, 1930 and 1950 provided figures for meal households where the inhabitants eat their main meal of the day together. The other censuses are based on dwelling households, i.e. people who
live in the same dwelling, irrespective of family relationships.
From 1960 to 1993, the number of families increased by 40 per cent, from 1.4 to 2 million, when a single person is now considered a separate family and cohabitants with children are considered a family. The average family size decreased from 2.5 to 2.2 persons from 1960 to 1990, while the decline in average household size was even more marked, from 3.3 to 2.4 persons.