Lowest number of Swedes coming to Norway in ten years

Swedish flagSwedish flag.Photo:Pixabay

In 2016, 2,467 Swedes moved to Norway, the lowest number for a decade, and 70% fewer than in the peak year of 2008.

 

The number of Swedes who moved to Norway last year was just over 300 more than the number of Norwegians who moved to Sweden, reported P4 newspaper.

‘The main reason is that the labour market in Sweden is pretty good right now,’ said State Secretary, Irene Wennemo,at the Swedish Labour Ministry.

In 2016 2,467 Swedes moved here, while 3,242 returned home, putting net immigration at minus 1,167 people. For Norwegians in Sweden, there’s been an opposite trend.

2145 Norwegians moved to Sweden, while 1444 Norwegians returned home, giving a net immigration of 701 from  Norway to Sweden.

‘We also had very big youth boom leaving school of youngsters born between 1988 and 1992, who were all seeking work at the same time. There was high unemployment, and many travelled to Norway to find a job.

But now the youth don’t need to go to Norway anymore’, said Wennemo.

At the turn of 2017, almost 40,000 people with Swedish backgrounds lived in Norway,  800 more than the previous year.

This made Swedish people the fourth largest immigration group in Norway, after Somalis, Lithuanians, and Poles.

 

 

 

© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today