By the end of June 2018 there were a total of 332,100 who received disability benefits, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the previous quarter.
The proportion accounts for 9.8 percent of the population aged 18-67, according to Nav.
“In recent years there has been an increase in the number of recipients of disability insurance benefits and we expect growth to continue throughout this year and next year. This development must be seen in the context of population aging, population growth and changes in the rules for employment clearance,” says Sigrun Vågeng, Minister for Labor and Welfare.
Since the beginning of the 2000s there has been an increase in the number of disabled people aged 18 to 40, while there has been a decline for them over 50 years.
“The growth over time among the youngest (18-29 years) is due in particular to the fact that there have been more young people with mental disorders such as autism and mental incapacity, as well as congenital malformations and chromosomal aberrations.
This is because more of those diagnosed live longer due to better medical treatment, Nav states.
Some of the growth is also due to changes in the regulatory framework.
In the last year there has been an increase in the disability rate in all age groups from 20 to 59 years. For the age group over 60 years, there was a clear decline in occupational injury, while the proportion was unchanged for the 18-19 year olds. The biggest increase was for people in the ages of 40-50’s in the last year.
© NTB scanpix / #Norway Today
