Approaching 5.3 million

The low population growth is a result of a birth surplus of 15 900 and a net immigration of 21 300. These figures and the population growth are at their lowest since 2005.

Low in-migration and high out-migration

A total of 58 200 people moved to Norway in 2017, while 36 800 people left the country. Net immigration was 21 300. Immigration from Europe was close to 8 000 higher than from the rest of the world. Nevertheless, nationals from countries outside Europe accounted for 90 per cent of net immigration. The reason for this is that very many European citizens emigrated while fewer citizens from outside Europe did the same.

The low birth surplus is primarily the result of only 56 600 children being born last year.

Many Poles

The number of foreign nationals increased by only 8 500 in 2017, compared to 21 000 the previous year. Among the 567 800 foreign nationals who lived in Norway at the turn of the year, the Poles were still the largest group with 103 800. These were followed by Swedes, Lithuanians and Syrians, with 44 000, 43 700 and 26 000 respectively.

At the turn of the year, 61 per cent of the residents in Norway were between 20 and 66 years old and 11 percent were in the age group 67-79 years. The oldest part of the population, those aged 80 years or more, amounted to 4 per cent of the population. People under the age of 20 accounted for 24 per cent of the population.