End to temporary arming of the police

Armed police outside Oslo City HallArmed police outside Oslo City Hall before Nobel ceremony in 2015 . Photo: Vegard Wivestad Grøtt / NTB scanpix

In all, 18,431 foreigners from a total of 108 countries received a permanent residence permit in Norway last year. The largest group, one out of six of the people who received a permanent residence permit, are Somalis .

Eritreans and Afghans follow in second and third place. Taken together, the number of people from these two countries who have received a permanent residency permit is almost as large as the number of Somalis who have got one, in excess of 3,000.

The number of permanent residence permits is thus higher than the birth surplus last year, Statistics Norway has estimated  18.100.

Anyone who has lived in Norway for three years may get a permanent residence permit, and such a permit is a prerequisite for being granted citizenship.

The percentage  of applicants who were granted a permanent residency permit last year was at 94 percent, according to figures from the Immigration Directorate (UDI).

The population in Norway by the ende of the year was 5.166 million, an increase of 49.100.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today