Net migration to Oslo is halved

Net migration to the counties – the sum of domestic net migration and net immigration – has not changed much from 2015 to 2016. The strongest decline is in Oslo, where the net migration has roughly halved, from 4 900 in 2015 to 2 400 in 2016. In Rogaland and Hordaland, the downturn has also been extensive, with a fall of 1 900 and 1 600 in net migration respectively, while the decline in Buskerud was 900. In the three counties with the greatest increase – Nordland, Hedmark and Sør-Trøndelag – net migration is up by around 700 in each county. Akershus has by far the greatest net migration, with 7 400, followed by Østfold and Sør-Trøndelag, each with a net migration of 2 700.

Moving loss in Rogaland

In 2015, the net migration in Rogaland was 700, but for the first time since 2000 this changed to a negative net migration in 2016, with 1 200 persons. The negative domestic net migration of 1 800 was slightly offset by a continued positive net immigration to Rogaland, of 600 people. Immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents accounted for 500 of these, while the rest of the population accounted for 1 300.

• More figures and tables in the statistics Migrations

A total of 26 100 people moved from a municipality in Rogaland, including 13 300 who moved to another municipality in the county. A total of 12 800 left Rogaland in favour of another county or abroad. Among the latter group, 5 200 moved abroad, and 2 000 and 1 600 moved to Bergen and Oslo respectively. Some also moved to Akershus and Vest-Agder, each with just under 700 in-migrations from Rogaland.

Less centralisation than in 2015

Despite the fall in migration in the most central municipalities from the peak in 2015 to 2016, domestic migration had a strong element of centralisation in 2016 compared to the years dating back to 2008.

The municipalities with the highest centrality had a domestic migration gain of 7 700 in 2016, which is almost 1 000 fewer than in 2015, but also 1 100 more than in 2014. The "middle" grouping of municipalities – smaller and somewhat central – saw a reduction in the domestic migration loss from 2015 to 2016, of less than 600. Their domestic migration loss was 4 400 in 2016. The least central municipalities had a domestic migration loss of 3 300, which is their lowest loss since 2012. Their loss was reduced by 400 from 2015.

The domestic migration activity across municipal borders was somewhat reduced in 2016, with 241 400 migrations recorded. That is 4 400 fewer than in 2015.

Fewer counties have domestic migration gains

Six counties had domestic migration gains, one less than the previous year, while thirteen had a domestic migration loss. The counties with a gain were Akershus, Østfold, Sør-Trøndelag, Vestfold, Buskerud and Hedmark. Akershus continued to have the largest domestic migration gains, with 5 700, which is 700 and 2 700 more than in 2015 and 2014 respectively. These included 4 200 immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrants, while the rest of the population counted 1 500. Rogaland, Nordland, Møre og Romsdal and Oslo are the counties with the largest domestic migration losses.