Demographic Demography () is the statistics, statistical study of human populations: their size, composition (e.g., ethnic group, age), and how they change through the interplay of fertility (births), mortality (deaths), and migration. Demographic analy ...

features of the

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, including

Jan Mayen Jan Mayen () is a Norway, Norwegian volcanic island in the Arctic Ocean with no permanent population. It is long (southwest-northeast) and in area, partly covered by glaciers (an area of around the Beerenberg volcano). It has two parts: la ...

, and

Svalbard Svalbard ( , ), previously known as Spitsbergen or Spitzbergen, is a Norway, Norwegian archipelago that lies at the convergence of the Arctic Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean. North of continental Europe, mainland Europe, it lies about midway be ...

, where the hospital is not equipped for births, and no burials are allowed because of

permafrost Permafrost () is soil or underwater sediment which continuously remains below for two years or more; the oldest permafrost has been continuously frozen for around 700,000 years. Whilst the shallowest permafrost has a vertical extent of below ...

, include

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

ethnicity An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they Collective consciousness, collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, ...

, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects. Deaths over time in Norway

The population of Norway was around 5.5 million in 2023.

Historical populations

From 1349 to 1500 the population was approximately halved by several rounds of the black plague, down to approximately 250,000. The first official census for the then Denmark-Norway kingdom union was held in 1769 and found the Norwegian population to be 723 000. Except for

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, no other country contributed a larger percentage of its population to the American immigration between 1825 - 1925 when more than 800,000 left Norway. By 1905, when Norway reached full independence, the population was 2,303,595.

Population

The total population of Norway on 1 July 2023 was 5,514,042.

Statistics Norway Statistics Norway (, abbreviated to ''SSB'') is the Norwegian statistics bureau. It was established in 1876. Relying on a staff of about 1,000, Statistics Norway publish about 1,000 new statistical releases every year on its web site. All rele ...

estimated that the 5,000,000 milestone was reached on 19 March 2012.Nina Berglund
Norwegians now number 5 million
News in English, 18 March 2012 The following demographic statistics are from the World Population Review. * One birth every 8 minutes * One death every 13 minutes * One net migrant every 19 minutes * Net gain of one person every 10 minutes

Fertility

The

total fertility rate The total fertility rate (TFR) of a population is the average number of children that are born to a woman over her lifetime, if they were to experience the exact current age-specific fertility rates (ASFRs) through their lifetime, and they were t ...

is the number of children born per woman. It is based on fairly good data for the entire period. Sources:

Our World In Data Our World in Data (OWID) is a scientific online publication that focuses on large global problems such as poverty, disease, hunger, war, climate change, population growth, existential risks, and inequality. It is a project of the Global Cha ...

and Gapminder Foundation. ;Total fertility rate : :1.85 children born/woman (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 143rd ;Mother's mean age at first birth : :28.9 years ;Birth rate : :12.2 births/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 160th

Life expectancy

Sources:

and the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

. 1843–1950 Life expectancy in Norway

1950–2015

Norway population density per municipality in 2016-no

Source: ''UN World Population Prospects'' ;Life expectancy at birth : :total population: 82 years. Country comparison to the world: 22nd :male: 79.9 years :female: 84.1 years (2018 est.) ;Death rate : :8 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 90th

Age structure

: :''0–14 years:'' 18.1% (male 495,403 /female 471,014) (2018 est.) :''15–24 years:'' 12.3% (male 340,672 /female 324,088) :''25–54 years:'' 41.0% (male 1,136,373 /female 1,065,138) :''55–64 years:'' 11.7% (male 318,898 /female 310,668) :''65 years and over:'' 16.9% (male 420,178 /female 489,759) ;Median age : :total: 39.3 years. Country comparison to the world: 55th :male: 38.6 years :female: 40 years (2018 est.)

Population density

;Urbanization: :urban population: 82.2% of total population (2018) :rate of urbanization: 1.4% annual rate of change (2015–20 est.) Note: data include Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands

Vital statistics

Data according to

, which collects the official statistics for Norway. Note: This table uses the sticky table format to make scrolling easier. If you prefer, you can disable it.

Current vital statistics

Structure of the population

Ethnicity

does not attempt to quantify or track data on ethnicity. The national population registry records only country of birth. As of 2012, an official government study shows that 81.0% of the total population were ethnic Norwegians (born in Norway with two parents also born in Norway). Ethnically, the residents of Norway are predominantly

Norwegians Norwegians () are an ethnic group and nation native to Norway, where they form the vast majority of the population. They share a common culture and speak the Norwegian language. Norwegians are descended from the Norsemen, Norse of the Early ...

, a North Germanic ethnic group. In

Northern Norway Northern Norway (, , ; ) is a geographical region of Norway, consisting of the three northernmost counties Nordland, Troms and Finnmark, in total about 35% of the Norwegian mainland. Some of the largest towns in Northern Norway (from south to no ...

there is a population of Sámi people, who descend from people who probably settled the area a couple thousand years ago. The people who spoke the proto-Sámi language probably migrated from the Volga region in modern-day Russia in Eastern Europe through Finland, finally arriving in the northern portion of the Scandinavian peninsula where they would assimilate local Paleo-European hunter-gatherers who were already living in the region. The indigenous peoples and minorities of Norway include: Sámi, Scandinavian Romani, Roma,

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

, and Kvener, as well as a small Finnish community.

Immigration

Net migration of Norway, 1999-present

Percentage of Norwegians born to two Norwegian parents

Foreign born and their descendants in Norway in 2022 population pyramid

Norwegian and foreign born population pyramid in 2023

In the last decades, Norway has become home to increasing numbers of

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

, foreign workers, and asylum-seekers from various parts of the world. Norway had a steady influx of immigrants from

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

(mostly

Pakistanis Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...

and Sri Lankans),

East Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...

(mainly Chinese),

Pacific Islands The Pacific islands are a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of several ...

and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

(e.g.

Filipinos Filipinos () are citizens or people identified with the country of the Philippines. Filipinos come from various Austronesian peoples, all typically speaking Filipino language, Filipino, Philippine English, English, or other Philippine language ...

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

(e.g.

Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

) and

Central Europe Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...

(e.g.

Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...

Southern Europe Southern Europe is also known as Mediterranean Europe, as its geography is marked by the Mediterranean Sea. Definitions of southern Europe include some or all of these countries and regions: Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, C ...

(

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

Albanians The Albanians are an ethnic group native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, Albanian culture, culture, Albanian history, history and Albanian language, language. They are the main ethnic group of Albania and Kosovo, ...

and people from former

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

Bosniaks The Bosniaks (, Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia (region), Bosnia, today part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and who sha ...

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...

etc.), and Middle East countries (especially Kurdish Iraqis and Kurdish Iranians), as well as

Somalis The Somali people (, Wadaad's writing, Wadaad: , Arabic: ) are a Cushitic peoples, Cushitic ethnic group and nation native to the Somali Peninsula. who share a common ancestry, culture and history. The Lowland East Cushitic languages, East ...

, Turks,

Moroccans Moroccans () are the Moroccan nationality law, citizens and nationals of the Morocco, Kingdom of Morocco. The country's population is predominantly composed of Arabs and Berbers (Amazigh). The term also applies more broadly to any people who ...

, and some

Latin Americans Latin Americans (; ) are the citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their diasporas are multi-ethnic and multi-racial. Latin Americans are ...

. After ten Eastern European and Baltic countries joined the EU in 2004, there has also been a substantial influx of people from

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

and

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

. At the start of 2022, there were 819,356 immigrants and 205,819 Norwegian-born to immigrant parents in Norway, together constituting 18.9% of the total population. The same year, immigrants (and Norwegian born to immigrant parents) originating in the

European Economic Area The European Economic Area (EEA) was established via the ''Agreement on the European Economic Area'', an international agreement which enables the extension of the European Union's single market to member states of the European Free Trade Asso ...

constituted 7.1% of the total number of Norwegian residents, while 6.3% were from Asia including Turkey and 2.7% were from Africa. Among people of African descent in Oslo, almost 60% are younger than 30, compared to 20% of those of North American background.Fakta om innvandrebefolkningen i Oslo
IMDi-rapport 5A-2007. As of 2022, there are around 207,575 third generation immigrants in Norway. This means that at least one of their grandparents were born in a foreign country. The majority of these persons are of Western European and Northern European background with Sweden and Denmark accounting for 36,126 (17.4%) and 33,695 (16.2%) respectively. Other countries with significant third generation communities are the United States with 29,395 (14.1%), the United Kingdom with 17,882 (8.6%), Germany with 14,090 (6.8%), Finland with 6,213 (3%) and South Korea with 5,199 (2,5%). Of these 1,025,175 immigrants and their descendants (born in Norway with two foreign born parents): * 419,720 (41%) have a

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

background ( UK, Australia,

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, USA, Canada and the EU) * 88,192 (9%) have a different European background (e.g. Russia, Albania, Kosovo, Serbia,

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

and

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

are included here) * 29,515 (3%) have a background from

Latin America and the Caribbean The term Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is an English language, English-language acronym referring to the Latin American and the Caribbean region. The term LAC covers an extensive region, extending from The Bahamas and Mexico to Argentina ...

* 144,868 (14%) have an African background * 342,571 (33%) have an Asian background, including Turkey In 2012, of the total 660 000 with immigrant background, 407,262 had Norwegian citizenship (62.2 percent)."Three categories of immigration background, country of birth and citizenship by country background and sex. 1 January 2012 "
.

. 26 April 2012. Accessed 27 April 2012
Archived
7 August 2011. Immigrants were represented in all Norwegian municipalities. The cities or municipalities with the highest share of immigrants in 2012 was

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

(26 percent) and

Drammen Drammen () is a city and municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the south-eastern and most populated part of Norway. Drammen municipality also includes smaller towns and villages such ...

(18 percent).Innvandrere og norskfødte med innvandrerforeldre, 1. januar 2012

, retrieved 30 March 2013 The share in Stavanger was 16%. According to

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

, Oslo is the "fastest growing city in Europe because of increased immigration".Hare, Sophie
"Factbox – facts about Norway"

. 22 July 2011. Accessed 22 July 2011. In recent years,

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...

has accounted for most of Norway's population growth.

Employment and income

;Unemployment, youth ages 15–24: :total: 10.4%. Country comparison to the world: 125th :male: 11.7% :female: 9% (2017 est.)

Religion

The

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

Church of Norway The Church of Norway (, , , ) is an Lutheranism, evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. Christianity became the state religion of Norway around 1020, and was established a ...

is the former state church and the vast majority remain at least nominal members. Other religions do, however, enjoy religious freedom and have prospered with immigration in recent years, particularly

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

and

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Saint Olaf Saint Olaf ( – 29 July 1030), also called Olaf the Holy, Olaf II, Olaf Haraldsson, and Olaf the Stout or "Large", was King of Norway from 1015 to 1028. Son of Harald Grenske, a petty king in Vestfold, Norway, he was posthumously given the ...

is the patron saint of Norway. He is regarded by some as the eternal king and has a reputation and place in history unchallenged by any other Norwegian King for the last 1000 years.

Languages

Norwegian (the written standards

Bokmål Bokmål () (, ; ) is one of the official written standards for the Norwegian language, alongside Nynorsk. Bokmål is by far the most used written form of Norwegian today, as it is adopted by 85% to 90% of the population in Norway. There is no cou ...

and

Nynorsk Nynorsk (; ) is one of the two official written standards of the Norwegian language, the other being Bokmål. From 12 May 1885, it became the state-sanctioned version of Ivar Aasen's standard Norwegian language (''Landsmål''), parallel to the Da ...

Uralic languages The Uralic languages ( ), sometimes called the Uralian languages ( ), are spoken predominantly in Europe and North Asia. The Uralic languages with the most native speakers are Hungarian, Finnish, and Estonian. Other languages with speakers ab ...

– South Sámi, Lule Sámi,

North Sámi North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

and

Kven KVEN (1520 AM, "") is a commercial radio station that is licensed to Port Hueneme, California and serves the Ventura County area. The station is owned by Gold Coast Broadcasting and broadcasts a Spanish-language talk/sports format. By day ...

– are additional official languages of some municipalities.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Demographics Of Norway

Historical populations

Population

Fertility

Life expectancy

Age structure

Population density

Vital statistics

Current vital statistics

Structure of the population

Ethnicity

Immigration

Net migration of Norway, 1999-present

Employment and income

Religion

Languages

See also

Notes

References