Population and land area in urban settlements, 1 January 2016

In 2015, the population of urban settlements increased by 57 000, or 1.4 per cent. The corresponding growth rate for the country as a whole was 0.9 per cent.

Continued population growth in the five largest urban settlements

The five largest urban settlements; Oslo, Bergen, Stavanger/Sandnes, Trondheim and Drammen, had a total population of 1 735 000, which corresponds to 33 per cent of the population of Norway and 41 per cent of the total population in urban settlements. The population in these five urban settlements increased by 26 300 in 2015.

Denser population

In total, 2 173 square kilometres of the land area of Norway was made up of urban settlements as of 1 January 2016. In 2015, the land area covered by urban settlements increased by 14 km2. The average population density for urban settlements in Norway was 1 933 on 1 January 2015, compared to 1 947 on 1 January 2016.

Major regional differences

The population size in urban settlements varies between the counties. In the county of Oslo, almost the entire population lives in urban settlements, while in the counties of Hedmark, Oppland and Nord-Trøndelag, between 57 and 60 per cent of the population live in urban settlements.