Demographics of Norway

Demographic features of the population of Norway, including Jan Mayen, and Svalbard, where the hospital is not equipped for births, and no burials are allowed because of permafrost, include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects.
The population of Norway rose to over 5.6 million during 2025.

Historical populations

From 1349 to 1500 the population was approximately halved by several rounds of the black plague, down to approximately 250,000.
The first official census for the then Denmark-Norway kingdom union was held in 1769 and found the Norwegian population to be 723 000.
Except for Ireland, no other country contributed a larger percentage of its population to the American immigration between 1825 - 1925 when more than 800,000 left Norway.
By 1905, when Norway reached full independence, the population was 2,303,595.

Population

The total population of Norway at the end of 2024 was 5,594,340. Statistics Norway estimated that the 5,000,000 milestone was reached on 19 March 2012.
The following demographic statistics are from the World Population Review.

One birth every 8 minutes
One death every 13 minutes
One net migrant every 19 minutes
Net gain of one person every 10 minutes

County	Population
Akershus	740,680
Oslo	724,290
Vestland	655,210
Rogaland	504,496
Agder	322,188
Østfold	314,407
Buskerud	271,248
Møre og Romsdal	272,413
Trøndelag	486,815
Nordland	243,582
Troms	170,479
Innlandet	377,556
Telemark	177,863
Finnmark	75,042
Vestfold	258,071

Fertility

The total fertility rate is the number of children born per woman. It is based on fairly good data for the entire period. Sources: Our World In Data and Gapminder Foundation.

Years	1800	1801	1802	1803	1804	1805	1806	1807	1808	1809	1810
Total Fertility Rate in Norway	4.32	4.07	3.91	4.2	3.94	4.33	4.39	4.27	4	3.21	3.87

Years	1811	1812	1813	1814	1815	1816	1817	1818	1819	1820
Total Fertility Rate in Norway	3.99	4.26	3.76	3.53	4.4	5.05	4.67	4.43	4.59	4.79

Years	1831	1832	1833	1834	1835	1836	1837	1838	1839	1840
Total Fertility Rate in Norway	4.46	4.3	4.42	4.56	4.7	4.23	4.13	4.36	3.84	4.01

Years	1851	1852	1853	1854	1855	1856	1857	1858	1859	1860
Total Fertility Rate in Norway	4.6	4.46	4.6	4.93	4.61	4.42	4.54	4.62	4.82	4.63

Years	1871	1872	1873	1874	1875	1876	1877	1878	1879	1880
Total Fertility Rate in Norway	4.29	4.4	4.41	4.59	4.67	4.68	4.69	4.64	4.71	4.53

Years	1891	1892	1893	1894	1895	1896	1897	1898	1899
Total Fertility Rate in Norway	4.51	4.35	4.47	4.38	4.52	4.47	4.48	4.53	4.47

;Total fertility rate
;Mother's mean age at first birth
;Birth rate

Life expectancy

Sources: Our World In Data and the United Nations.
1843–1950

Years	1846	1847	1848	1849	1850	1851	1852	1853	1854	1855	1856	1857	1858	1859	1860
Life expectancy in Norway	48.0	44.8	45.0	48.0	49.5	49.7	48.5	47.9	51.6	50.4	50.4	50.2	51.6	49.9	50.0

Years	1861	1862	1863	1864	1865	1866	1867	1868	1869	1870
Life expectancy in Norway	45.8	44.7	46.7	48.8	50.4	49.9	47.9	47.2	49.3	50.9

Years	1881	1882	1883	1884	1885	1886	1887	1888	1889	1890
Life expectancy in Norway	50.4	47.4	49.6	50.8	51.0	51.7	51.7	50.4	49.1	48.6

Years	1901	1902	1903	1904	1905	1906	1907	1908	1909	1910
Life expectancy in Norway	54.6	56.5	55.0	56.1	55.1	56.9	56.5	56.3	57.5	58.0

Years	1921	1922	1923	1924	1925	1926	1927	1928	1929	1930
Life expectancy in Norway	61.6	60.8	61.8	62.1	62.5	63.3	62.9	63.4	62.5	64.1

Years	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945	1946	1947	1948	1949	1950
Life expectancy in Norway	65.8	65.7	66.1	65.8	68.2	69.5	70.0	71.1	71.5	71.6

1950–2015

Period	Life expectancy in Years	Period	Life expectancy in Years
1950–1955	72.8	1985–1990	76.3
1955–1960	73.5	1990–1995	77.3
1960–1965	73.5	1995–2000	78.3
1965–1970	73.9	2000–2005	79.3
1970–1975	74.4	2005–2010	80.6
1975–1980	75.3	2010–2015	81.6
1980–1985	76.0

Source: UN World Population Prospects
;Life expectancy at birth
;Death rate

Age structure

;Median age

Population density

;Urbanization:
Note: data include Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands

Vital statistics

Data according to Statistics Norway, which collects the official statistics for Norway.
Notable events in Norwegian demographics:

1807-1814 – Gunboat War
1814 – Constitution of Norway
1905 – Dissolution of the Union between Norway and Sweden
1946-1953 – Post-war baby boom

Structure of the population

Age group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	2 495 777	2 484 178	4 979 955	100
0–4	159 582	150 941	310 523	6.24
5–9	153 598	147 027	300 625	6.04
10–14	160 122	152 496	312 618	6.28
15–19	167 701	156 981	324 682	6.52
20–24	167 828	161 709	329 537	6.62
25–29	163 754	157 417	321 171	6.45
30–34	166 578	158 663	325 241	6.53
35–39	180 904	171 104	352 008	7.07
40–44	191 483	181 708	373 191	7.49
45–49	180 834	169 703	350 537	7.04
50–54	165 233	157 496	322 729	6.48
55–59	154 029	150 306	304 335	6.11
60–64	144 699	141 620	286 319	5.75
65-69	122 740	124 711	247 451	4.97
70-74	78 850	87 830	166 680	3.35
75-79	58 013	72 196	130 209	2.61
80-84	44 024	64 219	108 243	2.17
85-89	25 608	48 449	74 057	1.49
90-94	8 769	23 474	32 243	0.65
95-99	1 310	5 515	6 825	0.14
100+	118	613	731	0.01
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	473 302	450 464	923 766	18.55
15–64	1 683 043	1 606 707	3 289 750	66.06
65+	339 432	427 007	766 439	15.39

Age group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	2 719 259	2 672 110	5 391 369	100
0–4	145 601	137 359	282 960	5.25
5–9	159 283	151 290	310 573	5.76
10–14	168 372	159 686	328 058	6.08
15–19	162 027	154 172	316 199	5.86
20–24	175 181	163 240	338 421	6.28
25–29	188 300	178 586	366 886	6.81
30–34	194 118	186 717	380 835	7.06
35–39	184 221	174 068	358 289	6.65
40–44	178 970	168 819	347 789	6.45
45–49	190 410	181 392	371 802	6.90
50–54	191 985	182 852	374 837	6.95
55–59	173 436	165 890	339 326	6.29
60–64	156 396	153 256	309 652	5.74
65-69	138 714	140 153	278 867	5.17
70-74	128 576	132 553	261 129	4.84
75-79	89 829	99 510	189 339	3.51
80-84	52 310	66 637	118 947	2.21
85-89	27 577	43 785	71 362	1.32
90-94	11 272	23 771	35 043	0.65
95-99	2 457	7 328	9 785	0.18
100+	224	1 046	1 270	0.02
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	473 256	448 335	921 591	17.09
15–64	1 795 044	1 708 992	3 504 036	64.99
65+	450 959	514 783	965 742	17.91

Ethnicity

Statistics Norway does not attempt to quantify or track data on ethnicity. The national population registry records only country of birth.
As of 2012, an official government study shows that 81.0% of the total population were ethnic Norwegians.
Ethnically, the residents of Norway are predominantly Norwegians, a North Germanic ethnic group. In Northern Norway there is a population of Sámi people, who descend from people who probably settled the area a couple thousand years ago. The people who spoke the proto-Sámi language probably migrated from the Volga region in modern-day Russia in Eastern Europe through Finland, finally arriving in the northern portion of the Scandinavian peninsula where they would assimilate local Paleo-European hunter-gatherers who were already living in the region. The indigenous peoples and minorities of Norway include: Sámi, Scandinavian Romani, Roma, Jews, and Kvener, as well as a small Finnish community.

Immigration

Net migration of Norway, 1999-present

Year	Immigration	Emigration	Net immigration
1999	41,841	22,842	+18,999
2000	36,542	26,854	+9,688
2001	34,264	26,309	+7,955
2002	40,122	22,948	+17,174
2003	35,957	24,672	+11,285
2004	36,482	23,271	+13,211
2005	40,148	21,709	+18,439
2006	45,776	22,053	+23,723
2007	61,774	22,122	+39,652
2008	66,961	23,615	+43,346
2009	65,186	26,549	+38,637
2010	73,852	31,506	+42,346
2011	79,498	32,466	+47,032
2012	78,570	31,227	+47,343
2013	75,789	35,716	+40,073
2014	70,030	31,875	+38,155
2015	67,276	37,474	+29,802
2016	66,800	40,724	+26,076
2017	58,192	36,843	+21,349
2018	52,485	34,382	+18,103
2019	52,153	26,826	+25,327
2020	38,075	26,744	+11,331
2021	53,947	34,297	+19,650
2022	90,475	32,536	+57,939
2023	86,589	34,011	+52,578
2024	66,077	31,968	+34,109

In the last decades, Norway has become home to increasing numbers of immigrants, foreign workers, and asylum-seekers from various parts of the world. Norway had a steady influx of immigrants from South Asia, East Asia, Pacific Islands and Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe and Central Europe, Southern Europe, and Middle East countries, as well as Somalis, Turks, Moroccans, and some Latin Americans. After ten Eastern European and Baltic countries joined the EU in 2004, there has also been a substantial influx of people from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
At the start of 2022, there were 819,356 immigrants and 205,819 Norwegian-born to immigrant parents in Norway, together constituting 18.9% of the total population. The same year, immigrants originating in the European Economic Area constituted 7.1% of the total number of Norwegian residents, while 6.3% were from Asia including Turkey and 2.7% were from Africa.
Among people of African descent in Oslo, almost 60% are younger than 30, compared to 20% of those of North American background.
As of 2022, there are around 207,575 third generation immigrants in Norway. This means that at least one of their grandparents were born in a foreign country. The majority of these persons are of Western European and Northern European background with Sweden and Denmark accounting for 36,126 and 33,695 respectively. Other countries with significant third generation communities are the United States with 29,395, the United Kingdom with 17,882, Germany with 14,090, Finland with 6,213 and South Korea with 5,199.
Of these 1,025,175 immigrants and their descendants :

419,720 have a Western background
88,192 have a different European background
29,515 have a background from Latin America and the Caribbean
144,868 have an African background
342,571 have an Asian background, including Turkey

In 2012, of the total 660 000 with immigrant background, 407,262 had Norwegian citizenship.
Immigrants were represented in all Norwegian municipalities.
The cities or municipalities with the highest share of immigrants in 2012 was Oslo and Drammen. The share in Stavanger was 16%. According to Reuters, Oslo is the "fastest growing city in Europe because of increased immigration". In recent years, immigration has accounted for most of Norway's population growth.

Employment and income

;Unemployment, youth ages 15–24:

Religion

The Lutheran Church of Norway is the former state church and the vast majority remain at least nominal members. Other religions do, however, enjoy religious freedom and have prospered with immigration in recent years, particularly Islam and Roman Catholicism. Saint Olaf is the patron saint of Norway. He is regarded by some as the eternal king and has a reputation and place in history unchallenged by any other Norwegian King for the last 1000 years.

Religion	Members	Percent	As of 2024
Christianity	3,833,338	68,5%	-
The Church of Norway (Lutheran)	3,449,014	61,7%	-
Other Christianity	384,324	6.9%	-
Non-Christian religions	244,165	4.4%	-
Islam	197,390	3.5%	-
Buddhism	22,176	0.4%	-
Hinduism	14,320	0.3%	-
Sikhism	4,338	0.1%	-
Bahá'í Faith	1,049	0.0%	-
Judaism	763	0.0%	-
Other religions	4,129	0.1%	-
Non-religious and unknown	1,370,019	24.5%	-
Humanism	146,818	2.5%	-
Total	5,594,340	100.0%	-

Languages

Norwegian.
Uralic languages – South Sámi, Lule Sámi, North Sámi and Kven – are additional official languages of some municipalities.