A total of 12 400 persons were naturalised in 2015, which corresponds to a 19 per cent decline from the record year of 2014.
The largest decline was among former citizens of Somalia, with 60 per cent fewer naturalisations compared with 2014.
Among those who were naturalised in 2015, most people were from Eritrea, Afghanistan and Iraq. The group from Eritrea increased the most from 2014 and was thus the largest group in 2015, with 1100 people – twice as many as the year before. The group from Pakistan also had a relatively high increase – from 500 to 700 people. The groups from Somalia and Iraq, however, were considerably smaller in 2015 than in 2014, and only 450 Somalis were granted Norwegian citizenship in 2015 compared with 1 150 the previous year.
Small gender disparity overall
The gender disparity was small among those who were granted Norwegian citizenship – 54 per cent were women. In the largest group – Eritreans – half were women. Among some groups, however, the proportion of women was high, with at least three out of four for women from Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Brazil and Ukraine.
Eight out of ten people were aged 40 or younger.
Most residents of Oslo
Twenty-four per cent of those who were granted Norwegian citizenship were residents of Oslo. This was followed by residents of Akershus, with 12 per cent, and Rogaland with 10 per cent.
Source: SSB / Norway Today
