Strong decline in refugee migration

Published:

Around 7 800 refugees migrated to Norway in 2017. This is almost half the number compared to the previous year. Much of the reason is a strong decline in refugees from Syria.

Written by: Minja Tea Dzamarija

The statistics on reasons for immigration show that the number of refugees granted protection in Norway since 1990 has varied considerably. In 2017, 7 800 new refugees migrated to Norway. This is almost half that of 2016, when nearly 15 200 refugees were granted protection. It is only when an asylum seeker’s application is accepted, and he/she is classified as a refugee in Norway that he/she is included in the population statistics. 

The year 2016 stands out in the statistics as having by far the highest number of refugees migrating to Norway in one year. The large influx of refugees into Europe in the autumn of 2015 brought many refugees from Syria to Norway. Schengen border controls and the EU-Turkey agreement were introduced during spring 2016 to limit the influx of refugees into Europe, explaining much of the strong decline in refugees granted protection in Norway last year. 

Majority of refugees are still from Syria

As in 2016, Syrians continued to make up the largest group of refugees migrating to Norway last year – constituting 58 per cent of all refugees granted protection. A total of 4 600 Syrian refugees migrated in 2017 compared to 9 500 the year before. Migrants from Eritrea and Afghanistan also made up large groups of refugees in 2017, with nearly 800 persons from each country. However, there was also a substantial decline in the number of refugees from these two countries compared to the year before. In 2016, 1 700 refugees from Eritrea and 1 800 refugees from Afghanistan were granted protection.      

4 800 family members of refugees

In 2017, 4 800 persons migrated to Norway because they had a family member who is a refugee in this country. The year before, the corresponding figure was 4 300 persons. Most family migrants of a refugee came from Syria, with 1 900 persons, followed by Eritrea with 1 200 persons.

Figure 1. Immigrations, by reason for immigration

Total Labour Family Refuge Education Other Unknown
1990 11058 1030 4568 4277 975 208
1991 11092 1050 4391 4509 1058 84
1992 12236 1152 4896 4997 1139 51 1
1993 16775 1140 4768 9613 1210 44
1994 11348 1215 4242 4596 1225 70
1995 10222 1427 4335 3085 1296 79
1996 9676 1487 4622 1988 1485 94
1997 11547 1859 5872 2138 1574 104
1998 14364 2508 6782 3137 1834 103
1999 22249 2078 7482 10638 1954 97
2000 18968 1997 7610 7144 2131 86
2001 17371 2376 8388 4270 2239 98
2002 22689 2706 12851 4494 2526 112
2003 19814 2379 9226 5512 2605 92
2004 21254 4063 9248 5084 2758 101
2005 23963 6433 10458 3936 3034 102
2006 29632 11778 11347 3160 3237 110
2007 44410 21377 13769 5275 3875 114
2008 48818 23249 16926 4464 4057 122
2009 44667 17926 15297 6459 4238 136 611
2010 50656 23754 15012 6411 5274 132 73
2011 54551 26729 16272 5359 5817 374
2012 56750 25542 18132 7188 5430 458
2013 54521 23543 17447 7377 5854 300
2014 50109 21412 16364 7027 5027 249 30
2015 49340 18092 16722 9280 4962 251 33
2016 51022 14583 16732 15230 4156 312 9
2017 42064 13839 15974 7808 4052 390 1

Figure 2. Resident immigrants, by reason for and year of immigration

Labour Family Refuge Education
1990 26.8 64.8 63.0 21.0
1991 19.9 60.6 63.5 23.7
1992 18.9 63.9 67.4 19.1
1993 16.1 63.0 69.4 19.3
1994 26.9 65.1 73.9 19.1
1995 28.8 66.6 75.9 18.0
1996 30.2 63.9 73.2 21.1
1997 32.9 66.5 79.1 21.5
1998 34.3 67.9 80.5 19.6
1999 34.7 71.5 57.6 23.7
2000 42.3 73.0 72.2 27.2
2001 44.2 72.9 86.6 29.3
2002 45.8 76.6 86.8 31.6
2003 48.3 78.0 91.6 30.6
2004 54.3 77.3 91.6 32.4
2005 59.3 78.1 92.5 34.8
2006 59.1 77.4 92.8 31.7
2007 59.4 77.3 91.0 29.8
2008 59.2 77.7 92.8 28.1
2009 67.2 77.3 94.8 31.9
2010 65.8 79.0 95.9 31.7
2011 67.1 78.5 95.8 32.3
2012 67.8 79.3 97.2 34.5
2013 71.8 80.0 96.6 36.1
2014 78.1 81.3 97.9 38.5
2015 85.8 88.6 99.6 59.1
2016 91.2 94.4 99.4 83.2
2017 98.5 99.1 99.8 98.0

Contact