Advertisement

Norway registers lowest quarterly birth rate since 1985

The Local Norway
The Local Norway - [email protected]
Norway registers lowest quarterly birth rate since 1985
Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB scanpix

Fewer births and more deaths have resulted in the lowest birth rate in 33 years being registered in Norway for the first three months of 2018.

Advertisement

But the population of the country is growing overall as a result of immigration, news agency NTB reports.

Net migration to Norway during the first quarter of this year was 5,500, but the net population change caused by births and deaths was just 1,700, according to figures from Statistics Norway (SSB). That compares with 2,400 in 2017 and 3,500 in 2016.

The figure for net migration was a result of a total number of 13,300 migrations into the country minus 7,800 emigrations.

The 5,500 figure is 1,000 fewer than for the equivalent period in 2017.

Almost a third of the total net migrations consist of Syrians, with 1,600 people arriving from the war-torn Middle Eastern country.

Around 400 people arrived from each of Poland and Lithuania, while Eritrea and India contributed 300 and 200 people respectively.

Norway’s total population at the end of the first quarter of 2018 was 5,302,778, up by 7,159 since the beginning of the year.

With a growth of 1,910, Akershus was the county with the biggest population increase in the country. That is primarily due to people moving to the area from other parts of Norway, NTB writes.

Oslo grew in population by 1,267, but in contrast to Akershus, that was mainly due to a relatively high birth rate, with births outstripping deaths by 1,142. But that is still lower than a previous SSB estimate of net 8,000 births yearly for the capital.

Five counties -- Sogn og Fjordane (-161), Hedmark (-100), Finnmark (-73), Oppland (-30) and Telemark -- saw a decrease in population in the first quarter of the year.

READ ALSO: Norwegian emigration 'higher than during era of migration to USA'

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also