Immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents, 1 January 2009

Immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents constituted nearly 508 200 persons or 10.6 per cent of Norway’s population as per 1 January 2009. A total of 422 600 were immigrants and 85 600 were Norwegian-born to immigrant parents. Additionally, 230 000 persons have one Norwegian and one foreign-born parent, and more than half had a parent from Sweden, Denmark, Germany, United Kingdom or USA.

Record-high growth

During 2008, the number of immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents increased by 48 600. This is the largest annual increase ever recorded. A total of 25 per cent of them came from Poland.

At the beginning of 2004, immigrants form Poland totalled 6 800 persons. At the beginning of 2009, this group had risen to 42 500. There has been a noticeable increase in the number of German immigrants over the same five-year period, with 9 000 more persons from Germany.

The Poles are the largest immigrant group

With a total of 44 500 persons, immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents make up the largest group. Ninety-five per cent in this group are immigrants, and only 2 000 persons are Norwegian-born to immigrant parents. The second largest group consists of persons with a Pakistani background (30 200). A total of 45 per cent were born in Norway. The other large groups of immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents are Swedes (28 700), Iraqis (24 500), Somalians (23 600) and Germans (20 900).

Most from Europe

At the beginning of 2009, immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents from Europe was the largest group, and accounted for 232 800 persons. A total of 172 300 of these came from the EU countries.

The increase in the number of immigrants during 2008 is mostly a result of immigration from Europe. The population growth among immigrants from Europe was 27 500, while the number of immigrants from Asia and Africa increased by 9 500 and 3 400 respectively.

Many young adults

The immigrant population is made up of a relatively high number of young adults compared with the population as a whole. At the beginning of 2009, 41 per cent of all immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents were aged 20-39 years, while the corresponding figure for the population as a whole was 27 per cent.

The differences are even larger when we compare immigrants against Norwegian-born to immigrant parents. As at 1 January 2009, 38 per cent of Norwegian-born to immigrant parents were five years or younger, and 75 per cent were younger than 15 years old. The corresponding figures for immigrants were 2 and 9 per cent respectively.

Most in Oslo

All the municipalities in Norway had immigrants. Most immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents live in Oslo, both in relative and absolute figures. Of Oslo’s 575 500 inhabitants, 152 100 were immigrants or Norwegian-born to immigrant parents, which is 25 per cent of the capital’s entire population. There were also high proportions in Drammen (20 per cent), Lørenskog (18 per cent) and Skedsmo (17 per cent).

Duration of residence varies

About 40 per cent of immigrants have lived in Norway less than 5 years, and 20 per cent have been resident at least 20 years. However the differences in the duration of residence between the different country groups are great. Nearly half of the Danes have lived in Norway for 25 years or longer, and almost two out of three have lived in the country for 15 years or longer. A large number of Chileans have also lived in Norway for many years. Half of the groups from Vietnam, Pakistan, Morocco and USA have stayed in Norway for more than 15 years.

Among the largest immigrant groups, immigrants from Poland and Latvia have the shortest stay, with over 85 per cent having resided in Norway for less than five years. Other larger groups, where half of them have stays of less than 5 years, were from Germany, Russia and Thailand.

Tables:

• Table 1 Population 1 January 2008 and 2009 and changes in 2008, by immigrant category and country background
• Table 2 Five different delimitations of persons with immigration background/foreign background, by citizenship and immigrant category. 1 January 2009
• Table 3 Three categories of immigration background ,country of birth and citizenship by country background and sex. 1 January 2009
• Table 4 Three variants of immigration background, country of birth and citizenship, 1 january 2009
• Table 5 Persons with immigrant background by immigration category, country background and sex. 1 January 2009
• Table 6 Immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents and persons with other immigration background by sex, age and country background.1 January 2009. Absolute numbers and per cent
• Table 7 Population, immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrants by country background. 1970-2008. Absolute numbers and per cent
• Table 8 Population by Norwegian/foreign citizenship and country background. 1 January 2009
• Table 9 Immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents by country background. County. 1 January 2009
• Table 10 Immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents, by country background and municipality. 1 January 2009. Absolute numbers and per cent
• Table 11 Immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents by country of birth,(the 20 largest groups).Selected municipalities.1 January 2009
• Table 12 Immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents by five groups of country background. Urban districts of Oslo. 1 January 2009. Absolute numbers and per cent
• Table 13 Immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents by two groups of country background and age. Urban districts of Oslo. 1 January 2009
• Table 14 Immigrants, by lenght of stay/first immigrations year and country background . 1 January 2009