Immigration and emigration, 2003

The decline in net migration is due to 4 170 fewer immigrations and 1 725 more emigrations than in 2002. The increase in emigration is in total caused by persons that are registered as emigrated due to the regulations in the National Population Register. These are persons which resident permit have expired, or in any other circumstances seem to have left the country. When there is no registered emigration, the country of emigration is set as unknown.

In 2003 there were 35 955 immigrations and 24 670 emigrations. Since 1958 the number of emigrations has only been higher in 1989, 2000 and 2001, and only in 1998-2000 and 2002 have there been higher immigration. After 1971 Norway has had an immigration surplus every year except from 1989.

The number of immigrations varies slightly from one year to another due to variations in immigration policies, as well as changing needs for immigration and protection in Norway. Looking at emigration, variations from one year to another are less than for immigration, and it is mostly determined by the economic cycles in Norway

Highest net immigration by Russians

Among foreign citizens the highest net immigration was for Russians with 1 580, an increase of almost 300 from 2002. The last years there have been an increase of Russian women who have received a resident permit to get married. There was also a large net immigration by Somalis with 1 450, Afghanis with 1 335 and Thais with 770. Iraqis, which had the largest net immigration in 2002, only had a net immigration of 255. The decrease in the number of Iraqis is due to both increased emigration and decreased immigration. Citizens from Liberia had for the first time a larger net immigration to Norway with 240. The immigrants from Liberia are refugees from the war actions there. It is important to note that figures for immigration are referring to the year a resident was granted a permit, and not necessarily the year of arrival.

Looking at the figures from the new members in EU, there has been a larger decline in the net immigration for almost all the countries compared with 2002. Citizens from Poland were the largest group in both 2002 and 2003, and it was also the group with largest decline. In 2003 there was a net immigration by Polish citizens with 290 to 650 in 2002. Citizens from Lithuania were the second largest group from the new EU-countries with a net immigration of 140 in 2003 to 240 in 240.

Most Norwegians to Sweden

In 2003 10 325 Norwegian citizens moved from Norway, while 9 170 moved in. The largest net emigration of Norwegian citizens came to Sweden with 1 285, almost 500 less than in 2002. Since 1999 more Norwegians have moved to Sweden than the opposite way. Like in 2002, there was also a higher net emigration of Norwegians to Denmark and Spain with 530 and 400 respectively. The net emigration to Demark was higher than in 2002, while there has been a decrease to Spain the last two years.

Concerning the return of Norwegian citizens from abroad, this follows the pattern from previous years. Most people moved from Sweden (1 815), Denmark (1 230) and the USA (970).

Highest immigration to Hordaland and Nordland

All the counties had net immigration from abroad, and it was highest to Hordaland with 1 170 and Nordland with 1 025. Most counties had lower net immigration than in 2002. Oslo, which had a large immigration surplus in 2002, had the largest decrease. In 2003 Oslo had a net immigration with 865 persons to 3 610 in 2002.

Also see the statistics about Migration, Internal

The statistics can also to be found in the StatBank where the users may produce their own tables.

Tables:

• Table 1 All migrations. Internal and immigration/emigration, by county. 1966-2003
• Table 2 Migration within and between counties and between counties and foreign countries. 2003
• Table 3 Internal migration, immigration and emigration, by sex, age of migrants and county. 2003
• Table 4 Migration to/from municipalities and counties. 2003
• Table 5 Immigration and emigration. 1951-2003
• Table 6 Immigration/emigration, by county. 1966-2003
• Table 7 Immigration, by country. 1966-2003
• Table 8 Emigration, by country. 1966-2003
• Table 9 Immigration and emigration, by sex, age and marital status of migrants. 2003
• Table 10 Immigration and emigration, by sex and age of migrants. 2003
• Table 11 Immigration and emigration, by sex, age of migrants and county. 2003
• Table 12 Immigration and emigration, by citizenship. 2003
• Table 13 Immigration and emigration, by Norwegian/foreign citizenship and country of immigration/emigration. 2003
• Table 14 Immigration, by citizenship and region. 2003
• Table 15 Emigration, by citizenship and region. 2003