Norway People - 2023
SOURCE: 2023 CIA WORLD FACTBOOK
Population
5,597,924 (2023 est.)
Nationality
noun: Norwegian(s)
adjective: Norwegian
Ethnic groups
Norwegian 81.5% (includes about 60,000 Sami), other European 8.9%, other 9.6% (2021 est.)
Languages
Bokmal Norwegian (official), Nynorsk Norwegian (official), small Sami- and Finnish-speaking minorities; note - Sami has three dialects: Lule, North Sami, and South Sami; Sami is an official language in nine municipalities in Norway's three northernmost counties: Finnmark, Nordland, and Troms
major-language sample(s):
Verdens Faktabok, den essensielle kilden for grunnleggende informasjon. (Norwegian)
The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.
Religions
Church of Norway (Evangelical Lutheran - official) 67.5%, Muslim 3.1%, Roman Catholic 3.1%, other Christian 3.8%, other 2.6%, unspecified 19.9% (2021 est.)
Demographic profile
Norway is a trendsetter country in gender equality, especially in workforce participation. Of particular value to families are the child and parental leave benefits. This supplement is a monthly allowance paid to families from a month after birth until the child reaches 18 to defray some of the costs of raising children. This is helpful to families with young children where the mother works limited hours. The parental leave benefit is available to qualified mothers in a child’s first year, enabling parents to share at-home childcare for up to 49 weeks at full salary (or 59 weeks with 80% of their salary). Afterward, parents can put their child in high-quality subsidized daycare or receive funding toward private child care or as compensation for one parent staying home to care for their child.
Norway was originally a country of emigration with almost 850,000 Norwegians going abroad between 1825 and 1945. At the turn of the 20th century, most Norwegians emigrated temporarily to work in the US. Immigrants to Norway in the 1960s were mostly from neighboring Nordic countries, with whom they shared a common labor market. By the end of the 1960s, with a strong economy and population shortage, Norway admitted guest workers from Pakistan, Morocco, then Yugoslavia, and Turkey. The labor migrants were expected to be temporary, but many settled in Norway. Eventually, Norway imposed immigration restrictions and the majority of migrants came in as refugees or for family reunification. Beginning in the 1990s, Norway’s migration policy aimed at achieving integration – including language instruction and integration into the job market – as well as combatting racism and xenophobia.
Age structure
0-14 years: 17.83% (male 510,835/female 487,126)
15-64 years: 64% (male 1,842,794/female 1,739,688)
65 years and over: 18.18% (2023 est.) (male 474,878/female 542,603)
Dependency ratios
total dependency ratio: 54
youth dependency ratio: 26.1
elderly dependency ratio: 27.9
potential support ratio: 3.6 (2021 est.)
note: data include Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands
Median age
total: 39.5 years
male: 38.8 years
female: 40.2 years (2020 est.)
Population growth rate
0.79% (2023 est.)
Birth rate
11.89 births/1,000 population (2023 est.)
Death rate
7.93 deaths/1,000 population (2023 est.)
Net migration rate
3.89 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2023 est.)
Population distribution
most Norwegians live in the south where the climate is milder and there is better connectivity to mainland Europe; population clusters are found all along the North Sea coast in the southwest, and Skaggerak in the southeast; the interior areas of the north remain sparsely populated
Urbanization
urban population: 84% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization: 1.32% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
note: data include Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands
Major urban areas - population
1.086 million OSLO (capital) (2023)
Sex ratio
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.88 male(s)/female
total population: 1.02 male(s)/female (2023 est.)
Mother's mean age at first birth
29.8 years (2020 est.)
note: data is calculated based on actual age at first births
Maternal mortality ratio
2 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)
Infant mortality rate
total: 2.28 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 2.61 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 1.93 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)
Life expectancy at birth
total population: 82.75 years
male: 80.63 years
female: 84.98 years (2023 est.)
Total fertility rate
1.83 children born/woman (2023 est.)
Gross reproduction rate
0.89 (2023 est.)
Contraceptive prevalence rate
N/A
Drinking water source
improved: urban: 100% of population
rural: 100% of population
total: 100% of population
unimproved: urban: 0% of population
rural: 0% of population
total: 0% of population (2020 est.)
Current health expenditure
11.4% of GDP (2020)
Physicians density
5.04 physicians/1,000 population (2020)
Hospital bed density
3.5 beds/1,000 population (2018)
Sanitation facility access
improved: urban: 100% of population
rural: 100% of population
total: 100% of population
unimproved: urban: 0% of population
rural: 0% of population
total: 0% of population (2020 est.)
Obesity - adult prevalence rate
23.1% (2016)
Alcohol consumption per capita
total: 6.05 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
beer: 2.63 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
wine: 2.23 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
spirits: 1 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
other alcohols: 0.19 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Tobacco use
total: 16.2% (2020 est.)
male: 17% (2020 est.)
female: 15.4% (2020 est.)
Children under the age of 5 years underweight
N/A
Currently married women (ages 15-49)
50.2% (2023 est.)
Education expenditures
5.9% of GDP (2020 est.)
Literacy
total population: NA
male: NA
female: NA
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)
total: 18 years
male: 18 years
female: 19 years (2020)
Youth unemployment rate (ages 15-24)
total: 13%
male: 13.5%
female: 12.5% (2021 est.)
NOTE: The information regarding Norway on this page is re-published from the 2023 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Norway 2023 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Norway 2023 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.
This page was last modified 06 Dec 23, Copyright © 2023 ITA all rights reserved.