The population increase in Norway in 2020 was the lowest since 2001. The reason? The corona measures and the very low immigration throughout last year.
At the beginning of 2021, the population in Norway amounted to 5,391,369, an increase of 23,800 people, according to the new annual and quarterly figures from Statistics Norway’s (SSB) population statistics.
For the first time since 2004, the birth surplus was greater than net immigration. The birth surplus, i.e., the number of births minus the number of deaths, was 12,368, while the net immigration was only 11,327. In comparison, net immigration in 2019 was over 25,000.
Immigration was particularly low in the first months of the corona pandemic. In April, only 599 people immigrated to Norway, while more than 2,500 people immigrated to Norway on average in that month in 2017-2019.
The population is still moving to central areas of the country. The Innlandet, Nordland, and Troms and Finnmark counties had a population decline, and Innlandet county registered the largest decline in 25 years.
Norway is also getting older, and the average age in 2020 increased by 0.27 years to 40.78 years.
A total of 73 fewer people died in 2020 than in 2019, the SSB added.
Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews
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