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/en/befolkning/statistikker/folkemengde/arkiv
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303 000 foreign citizens
statistikk
2009-03-12T10:00:00.000Z
Population;Population;Immigration and immigrants
en
folkemengde, Population, population, inhabitants, mean population, increase in population, marital status (for example married, single, divorced), age, sexPopulation, Children, families and households, Population count, Population, Immigration and immigrants
false

Population1 January 2009

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303 000 foreign citizens

At the beginning of this year, the number of foreign citizens in Norway was 303 000. Foreign citizens account for 6.3 per cent of the population. The increase in foreign citizens in 2008 was 36 700, the highest ever. Polish citizens constitute the largest group of foreign citizens in Norway.

Per cent foreign citizens. County. 1 January 2009

Foreign citizens by continent. 1 January 2009

Two in three are European

A total of 196 300 or 65 per cent of all foreign citizens in Norway have European citizenship, some 29 000 more than the previous year. A total of 59 200 or 20 per cent have Asian citizenship, and 27 000 or 9 per cent have Africa citizenship. In total, persons representing 185 different citizenships are living in Norway.

Migration and granting of Norwegian citizenship affect the number of foreign citizens. A person is normally granted Norwegian citizenship after a certain length of residence. Since the mid-1980s, a large majority of those who have applied for and have been granted Norwegian citizenship have been non-European citizens. The majority of immigrants from Vietnam are Norwegian citizens, whereas only a small share of those who have migrated from Sweden have changed citizenship.

Polish citizens are the largest group

As in every year since 2004, the number of Polish citizens increased the most last year. The 39 200 Polish citizens in Norway now make up the largest group of foreign citizens. A total of 32 800 Swedish citizens live in Norway, and the other two large groups are the 20 600 Danish citizens and the 18 900 German. The groups with the largest increase apart from Polish citizens (12 400 more than in 2007), were German, Swedish and Lithuanian citizens, having a growth of from 3 600 to 2 500 each. A few groups had a decrease, the largest of which was among the Pakistani citizens (265 fewer than last year).

Age structure among selected citizenships. 1 January 2009

Where in Norway do foreign citizens live?

Oslo and Akershus counties have the highest numbers of foreign citizens. In these counties foreign citizens make up 12 and 7 per cent of the population respectively. Oslo has 70 300 and Akershus has 38 500 foreign citizens. Also in Rogaland and Buskerud, 7 per cent of the population are foreign citizens. The county with the largest increase in foreign citizens was Oslo, with an increase of 7 800.

Sex and age - large differences between the groups

There are considerable differences in the sex and age structure of various groups of foreign citizens. A total of 53 per cent of all foreign citizens are men, but of the Greek, Polish and Slovakian citizens, 70 per cent are men. Among the Thai and Filipino citizens, on the other hand, only from 15 to 18 per cent are men.

Whereas 36 per cent of African citizens are below 20 years of age, only 10 per cent of North or Central American citizens are in this age group. Whereas one in three from North or Central America are 50 years or over, this only applies to 3 per cent of African citizens.

Population by age, sex and marital status. 1 January 2009

Immigration has an impact on some of the figures on age and marital status distribution. The number of married people aged 25 to 49 from 2008 to 2009 grew by 3 500. The number of Polish citizens in this group, however, grew by 5 400. This is to say, that if these Polish citizens had not come to Norway last year, the number of married people aged 25 to 49 would not have increased by 3 500, but DECREASED by 1 900.

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