4.4 million people living in Norway

Norway's population topped 4.4 million in May this year, totalling 4,404,100 on 1 July, preliminary figures show. The fourth million was reached in 1975, about the same time as the world's population hit 4 billion. The world's population is now believed to have grown to 5.8 billion.

The population of Norway increased by 11,400 in the first six months of the year. Hedmark, Oppland, Sogn og Fjordane and the four northernmost counties had fewer inhabitants on 1 July than they had on 1 January. Oppland's population dropped because of migration losses and an excess of deaths over births. In Hedmark, net in-migration was not large enough to cover the excess of deaths over births, and in Sogn og Fjordane and the four northernmost counties the excess of births over deaths was not enough to cover migration losses. Østfold surpassed Møre og Romsdal in population in the second quarter.

New Statistics

Population statistics. Population 1 July 1997 and changes in the second quarter.
Statistics are published every quarter in the Weekly Bulletin of Statistics, Current Population Data and in the Official Statistics of Norway (NOS) Regional Statistics. More information: Kirsten Enger Dybendal, tel. +47 62 88 52 96, e-mail: kie@ssb.no or Kåre Høiby, tel. +47 62 88 52 97, e-mail: krh@ssb.no.

Weekly Bulletin issue no. 34, 1997