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statistikk
2020-12-14T08:00:00.000Z
Population;Immigration and immigrants
en
innvhold, Attitudes towards immigrants and immigration, refugees, asylum seekers, labour immigrationImmigrants , Population, Population, Immigration and immigrants
true

Attitudes towards immigrants and immigration

Updated

Next update

Not yet determined

Key figures

78 %

agree that most immigrants make an important contribution to Norwegian working life

Attitudes towards immigrants and receiving refugees. Per cent
201120192020
Most immigrants make an important contribution to Norwegian working life
Strongly agree293140
Agree on the whole454538
Disagree on the whole1096
Strongly disagree332
Most immigrants enrich the cultural life in Norway
Strongly agree353841
Agree on the whole393531
Disagree on the whole11107
Strongly disagree454
Most immigrants are a cause of insecurity in society
Strongly agree1185
Agree on the whole241615
Disagree on the whole293228
Strongly disagree232935
Attitudes towards refugees' and asylum seekers' access to residence permits in Norway. Compared to today, should it be easier, more difficult or remain the same as today?
Easier61417
As today455656
More difficult442320

See selected tables from this statistics

Table 1 
Attitudes towards seven statements on immigrants. Per cent

Attitudes towards seven statements on immigrants. Per cent
2011201220132014201520162017201820192020
Most immigrants make an important contribution to Norwegian working life
Strongly agree29322932302127293140
Agree on the whole45484345424544434538
Neither agree nor disagree1191310151415121113
Disagree on the whole108109714101196
Strongly disagree3343343332
Don't know1111211221
 
Most immigrants abuse the system of social benefits
Strongly agree108118889676
Agree on the whole25242121172217191814
Neither agree nor disagree14141413181518131313
Disagree on the whole32343333323537363433
Strongly disagree16161721201819222529
Don't know2333522345
 
Most immigrants enrich the cultural life in Norway
Strongly agree35343236362833343841
Agree on the whole39393733353935373531
Neither agree nor disagree99121212131311813
Disagree on the whole111013138121312107
Strongly disagree4545665554
Don't know2322222233
 
Most immigrants are a cause of insecurity in society
Strongly agree1110119799785
Agree on the whole24232419192318221615
Neither agree nor disagree11121210151314121315
Disagree on the whole29313031303133313228
Strongly disagree23232229272325262935
Don't know1212211322
 
All immigrants in Norway should have the same opportunities to have a job as Norwegians
Strongly agree67636267665864707076
Agree on the whole21232420212824191915
Neither agree nor disagree3434554354
Disagree on the whole5676564432
Strongly disagree3342333322
Don't know1101111111
 
Immigrants should make an effort to become as similar to Norwegians as possible
Strongly agree25252321212323202017
Agree on the whole27272625232826292524
Neither agree nor disagree11111013151210111416
Disagree on the whole23232526252727252724
Strongly disagree1413161315913131317
Don't know1112211221
 
Labour immigration from non-Nordic countries makes a mainly positive contribution to Norwegian economy
Strongly agree25272429292126242634
Agree on the whole45454241374239444237
Neither agree nor disagree9101412151616141215
Disagree on the whole131012119121212117
Strongly disagree4443554443
Don't know4444653355

Table 2 
Attitudes towards the statement that all immigrants in Norway should have the same opportunities to have a job as Norwegians. Per cent

Attitudes towards the statement that all immigrants in Norway should have the same opportunities to have a job as Norwegians. Per cent
All immigrants in Norway should have the same opportunities to have a job as Norwegians
Strongly agreeAgree on the wholeNeither agree nor disagreeDisagree on the wholeStrongly disagreeDon't know
199358178782
199453246961
199557234970
199667193650
199766205530
199876153420
199973173421
200074173320
201167213531
201263234631
201362243740
201467204621
201566215531
201658285631
201764244431
201870193431
201970195321
202076154221

Table 3 
Attitudes towards refugees' and asylum seekers' access to residence permits in Norway. Per cent

Attitudes towards refugees' and asylum seekers' access to residence permits in Norway. Per cent
Compared to today, should it be easier, more difficult or remain the same as today?
EasierAs todayMore difficultDon't know
2011645444
2012744435
2013747424
20141850284
20151550295
20161251335
20171652284
20181553293
20191456236
20201756207

Table 4 
Answers to tree guestions on relation to immigrants. Per cent

Answers to tree guestions on relation to immigrants. Per cent
2011201220132014201520162017201820192020
Would you feel uncomfortable if you or someone in your closest family had an immigrant as a home help?'
Yes7988776565
No92909190919293949293
Don't know1113211122
 
Would you feel uncomfortable if your new neighbour was an immigrant?'
Yes6666464553
No92929292949295949395
Don't know2222211122
 
Would you feel uncomfortable if you had a son or daughter that wanted to marry an immigrant?'
Yes25252523172020171511
No70696969767475798082
Don't know5668765457

Table 5 
Contact with immigrants in different arenas. Per cent

Contact with immigrants in different arenas. Per cent
2011201220132014201520162017201820192020
All arenas
Yes76717870787278798079
No23282230212822212021
 
At work
Yes49455046544852525454
No51555054465248484646
 
Among friends and acquaintances
Yes36354134403743483946
No64655966606357526154
 
In the neighbourhood
Yes29283127323236373735
No71726973686864636265
 
Among close relatives
Yes12121312151114151618
No88888788858986858482
 
Other
Yes1411139121214111514
No86898791888886898586

Table 6 
Number of arenas where contact with immigrants takes place. Per cent

Number of arenas where contact with immigrants takes place. Per cent
2011201220132014201520162017201820192020
No contact23282230212822212021
One arena36343535343128293430
Two arena24222320262227252323
Three arenas11101310101215181316
Four arenas4454566678
Five arenas1122312132

About the statistics

The statistics are based on a survey. The purpose of the statistics is to map the attitudes of the Norwegian population towards various aspects of the national immigration and refugee policy and towards immigrants as a group. This year's survey was conducted between 3 July and 12 August.

Definitions

Definitions of the main concepts and variables

The following instructions have accompanied the questions posed from 1993 to 2000:

“Neither agree, nor disagree” exists as a hidden response alternative, which means that it should not be read to the respondent, but be used if the respondent gives no other answer.

Immigrants are persons with two foreign-born parents. (For adopted from abroad it is the social, not the biological parents, who count.)

Refugees and asylum seekers are subgroups within the category “immigrants”. Refugees are persons granted political asylum or have the right to stay on humanitarian grounds. That may be due to having obtained refugee status by the UN High Commissioner or being part of the refugee quota accepted by Norway each year, or they may have come as asylum seekers and granted asylum or right to stay on humanitarian grounds."

In 1998, a supplementary question was added to the four permanent questions. This new question had the following instruction: &“This question very much resembles Innv1 - but here we distinguish between those who want to give residence to more or &“as many” refugees and asylum seekers as today. The question was deliberately placed at a distance behind the other immigrant questions. The idea behind the supplementary question was to investigate how the answers to it deviate from the answers to the question (Innv1): “Norway should give residence to refugees and asylum seekers to at least the same extent as today.”

In 2002 the instruction is being changed to the following:

An immigrant is a person having two foreign-born parents. For adopted from abroad it is the social, not the biological parents, who count.

Refugees is a subgroup within the category “immigrants”´. A refugee is a person granted asylum. This may happen in several ways. Either by being granted refugee status by the UN High Commissioner or being part of the refugee quota accepted by Norway each year, or by having successfully applied for asylum in Norway. Persons granted right to stay on humanitarian grounds are also covered by the term refugee.

Asylum seeker is a person having applied for asylum in Norway.

Please, also note that the concept refugee in colloquial language often is used about persons who are fleeing infringements of human rights, war, riots or environmental disasters.”

Upon request by an interviewer - in 2003 the first paragraph of the instruction was supplied with these additional sentences: “In the present questions we aim at immigrants with a non-Western background. This should be conveyed if the respondent asks for clarification.”

The current instruction as from 2009 and onwards is as follows:

Definition of concepts

Immigrants in Norway are foreign-born persons registered as resident in Norway having two foreign-born parents. Persons adopted from abroad are not considered immigrants. The attitude questions generally relate to immigrants with national backgrounds from Eastern Europe, Asia (incl. Turkey), Africa and South and Central America. This should be conveyed if the respondent asks for clarification.

Refugees is a subgroup of immigrants who have migrated to the host country due to reasons of flight and have obtained asylum or right to residence on humanitarian grounds. Some are transferred from refugee camps abroad according to agreements with the UN High Commissioner of Refugees. Others have come as asylum seekers.

Asylum seekers are persons applying for asylum or residence on humanitarian grounds. Their application for residence is still under consideration.

Labour immigration is immigration accepted on grounds of labour. The Nordic countries have had a common labour market since 1954. As a member of the EEA (European Economic Area), Norway is also obliged to receive labour immigrants from countries within the EU/EEA/EFTA. In May 2004, this area was expanded by 10 new EU countries (Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia, Cyprus and Malta), and later also Bulgaria and Romania. Beyond that, access to the Norwegian labour market is severely restricted for citizens of other countries. Skilled workers and specialists from &“third countries" may be granted access if they cannot be substituted by labour resident within the area. Persons employed on a short-term basis (less than 6 months) and not registered as residents of the country are also usually included as labour immigrants. Before the ban on immigration was introduced in 1975, labour immigration to Norway was more or less free. The first immigrants from Yugoslavia, Turkey, Morocco, India and Pakistan were labour immigrants.

Standard classifications

Not relevant

Administrative information

Name and topic

Name: Attitudes towards immigrants and immigration
Topic: Population

Responsible division

Division for Population Statistics

Regional level

Whole country, but also broken down at province level.

Frequency and timeliness

The statistics were published every October/November from 1993 to 2000. As an exception, the 1994 results were published in January 1995. After a break in 2001, the statistics were resumed in 2002 and published yearly in November/December.

International reporting

Results have been cited in SOPEMI reports (Continuous Reporting System of Migration of OECD) from Norway.

Microdata

Depersonalized micro data for both the Omnibus surveys and the Travel and holiday surveys (now: the Travel and social surveys) have been transferred to NSD - Norwegian Centre for Research Data.

Background

Background and purpose

The questions were posed for the first time in Statistics Norway’s Omnibus survey in June 1993, and thereafter yearly in the Omnibus for the second quarter (except in 1994 when it was the third quarter) until 2000. Every year, apart from in 2000, a document giving a simple analysis of the results has been published.

From 2005 and onwards the attitude questions were transferred to the third quarter of the Travel and holiday survey (now: the Travel and social surveys), as Statistics Norway decided that year to discontinue its Omnibus survey. In 2007, the analyses of the results were transferred from the series Notater (Documents) to the series Rapporter (Reports).

Users and applications

The relevant ministry responsible for immigrant integration finances the research and uses the data as a basis for evaluating how its policy aimed at immigrants and immigration is being perceived by the population. The media has given considerable coverage to the results.

Equal treatment of users

No external users have access to the statistics and analyses before they are published and accessible simultaneously for all users on ssb.no at 10 am. Prior to this, a minimum of three months' advance notice is given in the Statistics Release Calendar.

Coherence with other statistics

Not relevant

Legal authority

Statistics Act § 2-1 (voluntary)

EEA reference

Not relevant

Production

Population

The Norwegian population aged 16-79 years, registered as resident in Norway. The unit is person.

Data sources and sampling

The data source is now Statistics Norway’s Travel and social survey (previously: Travel and holiday survey). During the years 1993-2004, the Omnibus survey was used.

The net sample size has followed the development of the samples drawn in Statistics Norway’s Omnibus surveys: in 1993-1994 approximately 1 800 persons, 1995-1997 about 1 400 persons, 1998 about 1 200 persons and 1999-2000 about 1 400 persons. By the 2000s, the sample size has fluctuated between 1 400 and 1 100.

Collection of data, editing and estimations

The Omnibus surveys and the Travel and social surveys (previously: - holiday surveys) follow Statistics Norway’s general sampling procedures. In the early publications presenting the results of the surveys an appendix containing details about the collection of data has been added. Since 2002, the appendix on data collection has been replaced by some paragraphs at the beginning of the publication rendering the most basic facts about the data collection: units sampled not belonging to the target population, non-response, fieldwork period, possible sample biases etc. For further details, the reader is recommended to consult documentation materials for each specific survey.

Total interview time is cited in the document/report, but not for each separate part of the survey.

Seasonal adjustment

Not relevant

Confidentiality

Nothing is ever published that makes it possible to detect the identity of the respondents.

Comparability over time and space

Questions that have been kept unaltered, allow for comparisons over time.

Accuracy and reliability

Sources of error and uncertainty

The documentation reports from the surveys include paragraphs on data collection and processing errors. They also present data on non-response and sampling bias in connection with known parameters, such as sex, age, and province.

From 2008 and onwards a part of the above mentioned documentation has been presented in the data chapter in the same reports that present the findings from the surveys on attitudes towards immigrants and immigration. Here is also exposed how the educational level distribute among the respondents in the net sample compared to the corresponding distribution in the gross sample. In 2010 the difference between the two distributions had grown so large that a weight was constructed to eliminate the bias in the educational distribution of the net sample. The results in 2010 and consecutive years have been presented with this weight activated.

Revision

Not relevant