Swedes outnumber Danes in Norway

The number of both Swedes and Danes living in Norway grew last year. For the first time since annual statistics began to be compiled in 1975, the Swedes now outnumber the Danes. There are now 20,629 Swedish citizens living in Norway, compared to 18,438 Danes.

All counties in Norway saw an increase in Swedish citizens in 1997. In Oslo alone, the number of Swedish citizens increased by nearly 1,000.

After declining for two years, there was a small increase in the number of foreign nationals in 1997. At the end of the year 158,000 foreign citizens were living in Norway, equivalent to 3.6 per cent of the population.

More European citizens

Sixty-four per cent of the foreign nationals were European, with Swedes (20,600), Danes (18,400), Bosnians (11,600) and British (10,800) making up the largest groups. The number of European citizens increased by 5,000 in 1997. Swedish citizens accounted for nearly 70 per cent of the increase.

Fewer Asian citizens

Since 1994 there has been an annual decline in the number of Asian citizens in Norway. This is because many Asians have taken out Norwegian citizenship in recent years. In the course of 1997, the number of Asian citizens declined by 3,400. The number of citizens from Pakistan, Vietnam and Sri Lanka decreased the most, and the biggest decline in Asian citizens took place in Oslo, with nearly 2,000. The largest Asian groups are from Pakistan (7,480), Sri Lanka (3,846), Vietnam (3,515) and Iran (3,514).

There was a small decline in the number of citizens from Africa, North and South America, South America and Oceania in 1997.

New Statistics

Population statistics. Foreign citizens, 1 January 1998.
Statistics are published every year in the Weekly Bulletin of Statistics, Current Population Statistics and Official Statistics of Norway (NOS) Regional Statistics. For more information, contact: kaare.reidar.hoiby@ssb.no, tel. +47 62 88 52 97, or trude.jakobsen@ssb.no, tel. +47 62 88 51 39.

Weekly Bulletin issue no. 23, 1998