There are now over 5.5 million people in Norway
The population in Norway increased by 61,219 in 2023. Ukrainian refugees strongly contributed to the growth for the second year in a row.
At the end of 2023, the Norwegian population reached 5,550,200, according to Statistics Norway.
The population increased by 61,219 during 2023, which is a slight decrease from the year before. In 2022, the population increased by 63,700 people, which was the highest population growth in over 10 years.
Ukrainians are the second largest foreign group
Ukrainian refugees strongly contributed to the population growth last year, according to Statistics Norway. The total number of immigrations last year was 86,600, a number that has only been higher in 2022. Of these, 33,000 were Ukrainian citizens.
In two years, the number of Ukrainian citizens in Norway has increased from 3,600 to 65,800.
“Ukrainians are therefore the second largest group of foreign citizens in Norway. For comparison, there are 111,100 Polish citizens, while 48,900 Lithuanians make up the third largest group,” says senior adviser Magnus Haug at Statistics Norway.
Record population growth in one county
13.7 per cent of Ukrainians live in Norway’s Oslo and the neighbouring county Akershus, while 15.4 per cent reside in the northern Norwegian counties. In comparison, 26.2 per cent of the overall Norwegian population lives in Oslo and Akershus, with 8.7 per cent in Northern Norway.
“Ukrainians have notably contributed to a significant population growth in Northern Norway. The region has seen its highest population growth rates since 1970 in Nordland, 1986 in Finnmark, and 2016 in Troms, considering the new county boundaries effective from January 1, 2024,” Statistics Norway writes.
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Translated by Alette Bjordal Gjellesvik
Read the Norwegian version of this article on forskning.no
