Updated numbers on immigrants 2003

Immigrant population makes up 7.3 per cent of total population

By the beginning of 2003 the immigrant population counted almost 333,000 persons, around 21,000 more than the year before – 7.3 per cent of the total population in Norway. 277,300 were first generation immigrants and 55 500 were born in Norway of two foreign-born parents. During 2002 the immigrant population increased by 4,000 persons born in Norway of two foreign-born parents, and 17,200 first generation immigrants.

A total of 234,000 persons (70 per cent) of the immigrant population originated from non-western countries, and 99,000 persons (30 per cent) from western countries. Immigrants with Iraqi origin increased the most, by 2,800. The number of immigrants from Somalia and Bosnia-Herzegovina increased considerably as well – by 2,400 and 2,300 persons respectively.

Persons with background from Pakistan still form the largest immigrant group, followed by Swedes and Danes. If we look at first generation immigrants only, Swedes and Danes are the largest groups. Iraquis form the third largest group, followed by Pakistanis. Among persons born in Norway of two foreign-born parents those with Pakistani background by far form the largest group.

First generation immigrants may be divided into three different groups according to duration of residence in Norway. Approximately one third has lived in Norway less than 5 years, another third has resided in Norway between 5 and 14 years, and the last third have been residents in Norway for more than 15 years.

Immigrants reside in central areas

Generally immigrants live in more central areas than the rest of the population, and many – particularly non-western immigrants – live in the region in and around Oslo. 48 per cent of the non-western immigrants live in Oslo and Akershus, and 37 per cent in Oslo only. The concentration in central areas varies with country background. The vast majority of immigrants from Pakistan (three out of four) and Morocco live in Oslo, while for example one out of three with Russian background live in Northern-Norway. Non-western immigrants make up 17 per cent of the population in the capitol. In Drammen the group makes up 12.6 per cent. The largest portion of non-western immigrants is found in Oslo and surrounding areas, in some other large urban municipalities and in some other municipalities.

High increase in the number of Iraqis and Somalis

In 2002 there was a net migration from abroad by more than 17,000. Only in 1999 the figure was higher. The high net figure was mainly caused by an increase in the number of immigrations, 40,100, as well as a decrease in the number of emigrations, 22,900, compared with the development during the past years. Net immigration of foreign citizens to Norway was highest from Iraq, by 2,400 persons. It is important to note that figures for immigration are referring to the year a resident was granted a permit. There was also a high net immigration of Somalis, 2,000, and this was also a large increase compared with 2001. Other groups with a high net immigration were Russians, 1,200, Afghanis, 1,100 and Thais, 900 persons. These figures show two different kinds of immigration: Iraqis, Afghanis and Somalis arrive from conflict areas, and most of them are refugees. Among Russians and Thais there are many women who come to Norway in connection with marriage.

In 2001 there was a net migration of 8,000 persons. A smaller number of people immigrated to Norway (34,300) and a larger number emigrated (26,300) than in 2002. Iraqis had the largest net migration to Norway in 2001 as well (1,000), followed by 800 Russians and Somalis. A total of 25,400 foreign citizens moved to Norway in 2001, and 15,200 moved out of Norway. Norway had a net outflow to Yugoslavia of 1,300 persons in 2001. Every year more Norwegian citizens move out of the country than to the country. Looking only at movements of foreign citizens the net migration to Norway was 18,400 in 2002 and 10,200 in 2001. Read more: Population. Migration. 2002

One of two first generation immigrants is a refugee

About 88,000 persons with refugee background were living in Norway on the 1st of January 2002. Out of all first generation immigrants one out of two (48 per cent) have arrived as refugees. Three out of four refugees were registered as principal applicants, while the rest came to Norway as relatives of refugees through family reunification. Of those registered as the principal applicant, 65 per cent were asylum seekers and 23 per cent transfer refugees. During 2001 the number of persons with refugee background increased by 3,400. The Afghani and Iraqi nationality groups increased the most, while the number of Kosovo-Albanians declined by 1,100 persons, due to return migration. Bosnians were still the largest refugee group. Read more: Population statistics. Refugees, 1 January 2002

Figures from the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration show that a total of 8,800 persons were granted protection in 2002. 1550 came as asylum seekers or transfer refugees, and almost 3,000 were granted protection on humanitarian grounds. The number of persons who were granted residence permit in relation to family reunifications increased, and amounted to 4,300.

Fewer Norwegian citizenships granted

About 9,000 Norwegian citizenships were granted in 2002, almost 1,800 less than the year before. This is the second lowest figure since 1994. The decline was mainly due to the fact that 1,800 fewer Bosnians and 600 fewer Yugoslavs were granted Norwegian citizenship in 2002 compared with 2001. Despite the decline, Bosnians was still the largest group with 1,200 granted Norwegian citizenships in 2002. The other major groups in 2002 were previous Pakistanis counting more than 800 naturalizations, Yugoslavs with about 600 and Somalis with about 550.

The largest groups in absolute figures from 1977 until 2002 were previous citizens from Pakistan (15,000), Vietnam (13,000), Yugoslavia (8,900) and Turkey (7,800). These figures should be seen in connection with the actual number of people from each of these groups living in Norway at the time, and who has the right to change the citizenship. As a main rule today, the person should be resident in Norway for 7 years. Those married to a Norwegian citizen only have to live in Norway 4 years. See also: Naturalizations 2002

Increasing number of immigrants undertake tertiary education

There are large differences in participation in tertiary education between first generation immigrants and persons born in Norway of two foreign-born parents. Looking at the age group 19-24 years an increasingly large portion undertake tertiary education. The participation among first generation immigrants is still 11.4 percentage points below the participation of the population as a whole. Persons born in Norway of two foreign-born parents have participation rates far higher than first generation immigrants, but still below the country average (5.5 percentage points). In all groups more women than men undertake tertiary education. Considering participation among persons aged 25-29 years participation among those born in Norway of two foreign-born parents is actually higher than the country average. The participation is higher for women than men in this group.

Many non-western immigrants more educated than non-immigrants

The level of education varies much according to country background. The portion of highly educated is larger among immigrants from the Philippines, Poland, Russia and India than among the total population in Norway (aged 30-44 years). 42 per cent of the immigrants from the Philippines have completed tertiary education. Among non-immigrants the portion is 30 per cent. Immigrants from Somalia, Pakistan and Thailand are worst off when it comes to educational attainment, and many women from non-western countries have little education or no schooling at all. See: Education statistics. Educational attainment among immigrants, 1 October 2001

Employment decreases among immigrants

The total employment rate among first generation immigrants decreased from 59.3 per cent the 4th quarter of 2001 to 57.6 the 4th quarter of 2002. In the entire population the employment rate decreased from 70.9 per cent to 70.1 per cent. The number of employed first generation immigrants increased by 4,600 persons from the 4th quarter of 2001 to the 4th quarter of 2002. Despite this increase, the employment rate decreased. This was because of an even stronger increase in the total number of first generation immigrants.

The employment rate increases with duration of residence in Norway. For first generation immigrants the employment rate increased from 48.4 per cent among those who had lived in Norway less than four years, to 60.5 per cent among those who had lived in Norway four to six years. Statistics Norway now publish employment figures for persons born in Norway of two foreign born parents. For this group the employment rate is 61.1 per cent, 3.5 percentage points above first generation immigrants.

New statistics on self-employed show that 8, 800 first generation immigrants were registered as self employed in the 4th quarter of 2002, a portion of 3.7 per cent of the immigrant population. In the whole population 4.7 per cent were self-employed. The Nordic and Western Europeans first generation immigrants had the highest rates of self-employed, by more than 5 per cent. Among the non-western immigrants, the ones from Asia had the highest rate of self employed, 3.5 per cent. Read more: Register based employment statistics for immigrants, fourth quarter 2002

Unemployment among immigrants increase the most

Registered unemployment continues to increase, but it increases more among immigrants than among the rest of the population. Unemployment among first generation immigrants increased from 7.7 to 9.7 per cent from May 2002 to May 2003. For the entire population unemployment increased from 2.9 to 3.7 per cent – all figures calculated as a fraction of the labour force. Immigrants from Africa had the highest unemployment rate, 17.8 per cent, while immigrants from Asia and South and Central America had 13.0 and 11.2 per cent respectively. Immigrants from Eastern Europe had the lowest unemployment rate among the non-westerners in the 2n d quarter 2003, 10.5 per cent. The rates for immigrants from the Nordic countries and Western Europe were 4.4 per cent – less than one percentage point above the level of the entire population.

The increase in the number of persons covered by ordinary labour market schemes (job programmes) also continues. At the national level there has been an increase from 12,500 participants in May 2002 to 20,800 in May 2003, a growth of 66 per cent. Among immigrants this number increased from 3,900 to 5,400 participants – i.e. 39 per cent – during this period. 92 per cent of the 5,400 immigrants who participated on these schemes were mainly non-western immigrants. Read more: Registered unemployment among immigrants, 2nd quarter 2003

Non-western immigrants have lower income

Also when it comes to income there are large differences between immigrant groups. In 2001 families (married couples or cohabiting couples with common children) with background from Western Europe at average had an income (after tax) of NOK 418 800, and families from North America and Oceania NOK 695 800. For this latter group this is well above the country average for families total, and families with background from third world countries had the lowest income. The average for this group was NOK 341,100. For families with children where the parents had background from Eastern Europe the average after-tax income was NOK 352,800. For comparison the average for all married couples and cohabiting couples with children in Norway was NOK 485,500. Immigrants with children and background from third world countries had 70 per cent of this income. They also have the lowest wages and salaries, smaller portion of property income and the largest portion of transfers.

Considering income for couples with children there are also large differences according to country background among non-western immigrants. Among the figures we have studied couples from Turkey have the lowest after-tax income, NOK 303,600. Somali and Yugoslavian couples with children also have low income. In addition these couples at average had more children than many other groups. Couples from Turkey had 1,8 children at average, Yugoslavian 2,2, and Somali couples 3,1. Of the non-western groups couples from Poland and India had an after-tax income of NOK 400,000. Among Pakistan, Chilean and Vietnamese couples with children the average after-tax income was NOK 328,000, 386,800 and 387,200 respectively. Families consisting of two first generation immigrants with children have at average lower income (NOK 398,700) than couples where the parents are born in Norway of two foreign-born parents (NOK 459,700).

More immigrants eligible to vote

228,500 persons with immigrant background will be entitled to vote at the coming municipal- and County election. Immigrants accounted for 6.5 per cent of the total numbers of voters – an increase of 43,000 compared with the last election in 1999. 111,200 Norwegian citizens with an immigrant background, and 117,300 foreign citizens will have the right to vote in the election this autumn.

The major groups with foreign citizenship entitled to vote are Sweden, Denmark and Iraq. 38 per cent of the foreign citizens entitled to vote come from the Nordic countries. 32,500 foreign citizens entitled to vote live in Oslo, this accounts for 28 per cent of all foreign citizens entitled to vote. The major groups of immigrants with Norwegian citizenships are voters from Pakistan (11,400) and Vietnam (10,400). More than half of the voters with a European background come from East European countries. Read the article: 3 502 500 persons entitled to vote in the Municipal- and County Council election 2003. Estimated numbers

Two thirds of the adult population have contact with immigrants

A survey conducted by Statistics Norway shows that two thirds of the adult population have contact with immigrants, while one out of three has no such contact. Place of work is the most common arena for contact with immigrants. People with contact with immigrants have a more positive attitude towards immigrants than those without such contact. Two thirds of the population agreed that" Most immigrants make an important contribution in the Norwegian work life" and six out of seven agreed that "All immigrants in Norway should have the same opportunities for work as Norwegians". But not everyone is positive towards immigrants in all regards. Slightly more than half, 53 per cent, was of the opinion that it should be more difficult to obtain residence permit in Norway than it is today, and 40 per cent agreed to the statement "Most immigrants are a cause of insecurity in society". Read about Attitudes towards immigrants and immigration policy, 2002