Nevertheless, since 2002 there has been a long-term trend towards more positive attitudes towards immigrants and immigration in the population. This trend reached a peak in 2023. This was the year following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and the results can partly be interpreted as reflecting sympathy for Ukrainian refugees and a willingness to receive them in Norway. In both 2022 and 2023, a considerably larger share of respondents believed that it should become easier for refugees and asylum seekers to obtain residency in Norway than those who believed it should become more difficult. In 2025 and 2026, however, more respondents believe it should become more difficult rather than easier. We must go back to the 2016 survey to find a similar level in the share of respondents holding this view.
Despite the decline over the past three years, the majority of respondents express positive attitudes. A majority believe that immigrants contribute positively to society, both in the labour market and to cultural life. At the same time, the majority disagree with negative statements, such as that immigrants are a source of insecurity or exploit Norwegian welfare services.
The share of respondents reporting contact with immigrants continues to increase, and most people have contact on one or more arenas. Contact takes place primarily at work, among friends and acquaintances, and in the neighbourhood, and is most commonly on a daily or weekly basis. Most respondents report that their experiences with such contact are mainly positive.
Attitudes towards immigrants and immigration vary by respondents’ background characteristics, such as gender, age and level of education, and these relationships have been relatively stable over time. Women generally report more positive attitudes than men, and students are more positive than those in paid employment, and particularly more positive than recipients of social benefits and pensions. Younger people have traditionally been more positive than older individuals, but in this year’s survey this relationship is less pronounced than in previous years. The strongest relationships are found between attitudes and both the level of contact with immigrants and educational attainment.
Overall, attitudes among respondents remain more positive than negative, regardless of gender, age and educational level. his is important to keep in mind when interpreting the results. Overall, the results from 2026 show that the long-term trend remains positive, but that developments in recent years point towards somewhat more negative attitudes. The highest levels of positive attitudes were recorded in 2023, and the results from the past three years may be interpreted as a “normalisation” towards the levels observed prior to the war in Ukraine.
The gross sample for the survey is drawn to provide a statistically representative sample of the target population as far as possible. Due to non-response, the net sample may be subject to bias; this is corrected by applying non-response weights based on gender, age and education.
Chapter 2 provides a more detailed description of the data basis. Chapter 3 discusses developments and events in society that may influence attitudes. Chapter 4 presents the main results, with emphasis on long-term trends from 2002 to 2026. Chapter 5 examines year-to-year changes, focusing on statistically significant differences. Chapter 6 analyses attitudes by background characteristics, based on both bivariate and multivariate methods.