In the survey, a representative sample of people with an immigrant background answered questions about their use of cultural activities. The sample consisted of immigrants and Norwegian-born to immigrant parents, aged 9 years and older.
The results from the cultural use survey in 2023 show a significant increase in the amount of people participating in cultural events compared to 2021, a year marked by pandemic-related restrictions. In 2023, individuals with immigrant backgrounds participated in cultural activities to the same extent as the overall population. The overall population refers to the entire population, including people with an immigrant background. The immigrant population and the entire population nearly equally engaged in activities such as cinema, ballet and dance performances, festivals, museums, and art exhibitions. Individuals with immigrant backgrounds reported more frequent visits to public libraries and participation in religious or philosophical meetings, compared to the general population. However, it was less common amongst individuals with immigrant backgrounds to attend theatres, concerts, and sports events in the past year, compared to the overall population.
Children and youth with immigrant backgrounds were the most active participants in cultural activities in 2023, compared to other age groups. Those aged 9 to 15 had the highest percentage of visits, among all age groups, for all activities except opera. The differences between the youngest and oldest age groups were most significant for visits to cinemas, dance performances, and sports events, and least significant for visits to concerts and art exhibitions. The oldest age group, 67 years or older, was simultaneously more involved in opera performances and religious or philosophical meetings than the younger age groups. Women with immigrant backgrounds participated as much as or more in cultural activities compared to men, except for sports events. A trend among both the overall population and individuals with immigrant backgrounds was that cultural participation increased with educational levels.
In 2023, cinema was most popular among individuals with immigrant backgrounds, followed by visits to public libraries. Among those aged 9 to 15, eight out of ten had been to the cinema and public libraries in the past year. Also, among those with an immigrant background a larger proportion visited the public libraries than the whole population. Six out of ten visited public libraries in the past year, compared to four out of ten among the general population. Individuals with immigrant backgrounds read more e-books than the overall population in 2023. Three out of ten read one or more e-books in the past year, compared to two out of ten among the general population. However, paper books were the most read book-form.
In 2021, some turned to digital cultural events due to the pandemic. There is a decline in digital visits and an increase in physical visits in 2023. However, digital visits to religious or philosophical meetings have seen a significant increase since 2021. In contrast to the overall population, there was also a small increase in digital concert attendance from 2021 to 2023 among individuals with immigrant backgrounds.
There is a higher percentage of individuals with immigrant backgrounds that has never been to various cultural events in Norway compared to the overall population. Throughout, there was also a desire to attend more frequently, with cinema and concerts standing out. Among those who want to attend more often, the most common barriers were lack of time and economy.
In 2023, two out of ten with immigrant backgrounds were members of a sports club. One out of four was engaged in organized sports in the past year, especially common among children and young people. It was also common among the youngest to play instruments and engage in arts in their free time, in addition to sports activities.