Immigration and emigration, 2010

Of the 65 100 immigrants having citizenship other than Norwegian, 41 700 or 64 per cent were citizens of EU member countries. Similar percentages could also be seen in the 1960s, but the share decreased and as late as in 2003 was at 37 per cent. Extensive immigration in previous years has been due to large numbers of refugees, but in later years, labour immigration from Poland in particular, but also from Sweden, Lithuania and Germany accounts for the high net immigration.

Seven out of ten immigrants are Europeans

A total of 45 600 Europeans with citizenship other than Norwegian immigrated, and as has been usual for recent years, Polish citizens made up the largest group (11 300), up by almost 1 000 from the previous year. Swedish citizens followed next, with 7 600, which is 1 600 more than in 2009. Lithuanian citizens made the largest increase; their 6 600 immigrations are twice as many as the year before. Icelandic citizens continued arriving, and their 1 700 immigrations were up 100 from 2009, which was the first year they arrived in considerable numbers. Immigration by citizens from refugee countries like Eritrea, Somalia and Afghanistan increased somewhat, from 4 300 for the three countries combined in 2009 to 5 000 in 2010.

The immigration of African citizens was at around 3 000 at the turn of the millennium, but has since increased and reached 5 700 last year. From Asia, 10 700 immigrated, within the upper limit of what the number has been for the last years.

Highest emigration ever among foreign citizens

Of the 31 500 who emigrated, 22 500 were foreign citizens, which is the highest figure ever registered, not far from twice the average for the last 20 years. While Polish citizens for the first and only time made up the largest group in 2009, the Swedish citizens again made up the largest group in 2010 with their 4 300 emigrations compared with the 3 700 Polish. There was then a big leap down to the German citizens, with 1 200 emigrations.

Polish citizens had the highest net migration (immigration less emigration), with 7 600; up 700 from 2009, but this was still far from the 11 900 in 2008. They were followed by Lithuanian and Swedish citizens, with 5 800 and 3 300 respectively. For the Lithuanians, this was more than twice the number of 2009.

Where did they settle?

Oslo had the highest number of net immigration with 7 500, followed by Rogaland and Hordaland with 4 900 and 4 400 respectively. Oslo/Akershus and Rogaland/Hordaland together constituted almost half of Norway’s total net migration. Their share of Norway’s population is almost as big - 42 per cent - but their share of the net migration has varied from 67 per cent at the beginning of the 1980s to 34 per cent in 2003.

Almost two thirds of the Swedish immigrants moved to Oslo/Akershus, as did three quarters of the Pakistani citizens, although their number is far less. Around half of the Icelandic, British, Rumanian and Latvian citizens moved to Agder/Rogaland and Western Norway. One third of the Finnish, Russian and Afghan citizens moved to Northern Norway and Trøndelag.

Only 21 out of the 430 municipalities saw no net immigration from abroad.

Large share of Norwegian citizens among the immigrants

In total, 8 800 or 12 per cent of all immigrants were Norwegian citizens in 2010. Norwegian citizens account for a considerable share of the immigration from some countries, where they may be students or professionals. Many Norwegian citizens spend large parts of the year in other countries, but the number reporting their migration is relatively small. A total of 9 000 Norwegian citizens emigrated, resulting in a net out-migration of 200.

Most immigrations by Norwegian citizens take place from Denmark and Sweden; 1 600 from each of these countries. As for other European countries, 650 took place from the UK and 550 from Spain. From outside Europe, the Norwegian citizens migrating from the USA made up the largest group, with 700 of the total 1 700 migrations from that country.

Denmark and Sweden also received most Norwegian citizens; between 1 900 and 2 200 emigrated to each of these countries. The UK, which 700 Norwegian citizens emigrated to, was the third largest country in Europe for receiving Norwegian citizens. Spain received 350. Outside Europe, the USA was the largest country in this respect; 700 of the total 1 150 emigrating to that country were Norwegian citizens. Few naturalised Norwegian citizens return to countries in Asia, Africa or the Balkans.

Tables:

• Table 1 Immigration and emigration. 1951-2010
• Table 2 Immigration/emigration, by county. 1966-2010
• Table 3 Immigration, by country. 1966-2010
• Table 4 Emigration, by country. 1966-2010
• Table 5 Net in-migration, by country. 1966-2010
• Table 6 Immigration and emigration, by sex, age and marital status of migrants. 2010
• Table 7 Immigration and emigration, by sex and age of migrants. 2010
• Table 8 Immigration, emigration and net immigration, by sex, age of migrants and county. 2010
• Table 9 Immigration and emigration, by citizenship, 2010
• Table 10 Immigration and emigration, by Norwegian/foreign citizenship and country of immigration/emigration. 2010
• Table 11 Immigration, by citizenship and region. 2010
• Table 12 Emigration, by citizenship and region. 2010