Majority immigrate for labour

Among the 36 900 persons with non-Nordic citizenship immigrating to Norway in 2018, labour was the most common reason with 15 000 persons, followed by 12 700 who immigrated for family reasons and 4 700 refugees who were granted protection. 4 200 persons immigrated to Norway for education in 2018.

Increased labour immigration

Labour immigration increased again in 2018 after falling every year since a peak in 2011 of nearly 27 000 labour immigrants. Labour immigrants from Poland are still the largest group, with 3 600 persons arriving in 2018 - almost the same number as in the year before.

Fewer immigrate for family reasons

The number of persons who immigrated for family reasons fell from 16 200 in 2017 to 12 700 in 2018. Among those who immigrated for family reasons, 9 200 persons arrived because of family reunification, while 3 500 came for family establishment by marriage. In the last group, 46 per cent married a person with a non-immigrant background.

Majority of refugees are still from Syria

In 2018, 4 700 new refugees migrated to Norway compared to 7 800 the year before. It is only when an asylum seeker’s application is accepted, and he/she is classified as a refugee in Norway that he/she is included in the population statistics.

As in 2016 and 2017, Syrians continued to make up the largest group of refugees migrating to Norway. A total of 2 700 Syrian refugees migrated in 2018 compared to 4 600 in 2017 and 9 500 in 2016. Migrants from Congo and Eritrea also made up large groups of refugees in 2018, with 700 and 500 persons respectively.

Not everyone stays

Not everyone who immigrates to Norway stays here for the rest of their life. The reason for immigration has a bearing on whether they leave the country. Of those who immigrated for education from 1990 to 2018, only 38 per cent still lived here on 1 January 2019. The corresponding percentage for refugees was 86 per cent.

Many labour immigrants leave Norway after some years. Among the 292 000 labour immigrants who arrived in the years 1990 to 2018, every third person had emigrated by the end of 2018.