Fewer births and more deaths gave us the lowest birth surplus in Norway in 33 years in the first three months of the year, but immigration provides for population growth.
Net immigration to Norway in the first quarter was three times higher than the birth surplus.Norway received 5,500 more immigrants in the first quarter, while the birth surplus, which is the number of deaths minus the number of births,was 1,700, according to figures Statistics Norway (SSB) submitted on Tuesday.
By comparison, the birth surplus in Norway in the first quarter of 2004 was 2,400, and the previous year was 3,500.
The population is maintained by immigration, which was 13,300 in the first quarter. At the same time, 7,800 emigrations were registered, giving a net immigration of 5,500 people, 1,000 fewer than in the same period last year.
The immigration of Syrian citizens is almost as high as the birth surplus, and Syrians account for almost one third of the net immigration, with 1,600 people. From
Poland and Lithuania, net immigration was approximately 400 from each country. Thereafter, net immigration from Eritrea and India followed, with 300 and 200 people respectively.
The population in Norway was 5,302,778 at the end of the quarter, 7,159 higher than at the turn of the year.
The population growth in Akershus was 1,910 people and the highest in the country. This is mainly because of domestic relocation, so the birth surplus was only 241
persons.
Oslo received 1,267 more residents, but here the picture was the opposite, almost the whole growth was due to a birth surplus of 1,142. Population growth in Oslo is just over half of previous estimates from Statistics Norway, which had been well over 8,000 annually.
Five counties received fewer inhabitants in the first quarter:Sogn og Fjordane (-161), Hedmark (-100), Finnmark (-73),Oppland (-30), and Telemark (-5).
© NTB scanpix / #Norway Today
