Executive summary

AuthorLøvdal, Lene
Pages5-12
5
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. Introduction
Norway is a relatively homogenous country with 5.37 million inhabitants. 1 There are
790 497 immigrants in Norway and 188 757 people who were born in Norway with
immigrant parents. These two groups constitut e approximately 18.2 % of the total
population. 2 Of these, 386 294 people (or both their parents) are from EU or EEC
countries, and 84 223 people are from other European countries. Th e remainder include:
328 339 people from Asia including Turkey; 137 411 from Africa; 27 983 people from
Latin America; 12 458 people from the United States or Canad a; and 2 546 people from
Oceania.3
The Sami people are the larg est indigenous group of people in Norway, and number
between 50 000 and 65 000 people. Other national minorities include Jews
(approximately 1 100 people) and Kvens/pe ople of Finnish descent (approximately
10 000-15 000 people). No exact figures a re available for the number of Roma people.
There are approximatel y 700 people belonging to a traditional group of Roma who live
mainly in the Oslo area, while estimates put the number of Travellers at around a few
thousand people.4
About 70 % of Norwegians are members of the Norwegian Protestant church,5 while
other r eligious groups of a significant size are Islamic associations, the Roman Catholic
church and the Pentecostal church.6 Official statistics suggest that there are 175 507
Muslims, 365 851 ‘other’ Christians (that is Christians not belonging to the N orwegian
church), 21 044 Buddhi sts, 11 405 Hindus, and 104 636 people bel onging to other b elief
or life-stance (i.e. non-religious convictions as fundamental as religious ones)
organisations.7
Correct and reliable figures for the number of disabled peopl e in Norway are difficult to
find. A recent survey a ssumes that there are approximately 627 000 people between 15
and 66 years (that is 17 % of the population of th e same age range), who have some
kind of reduced functional, psychological or cognitive ability.8 The official employment
statistics give a figure of about 274 000 disabled people in employment, which would
equate to 43.8 % of disabled people of working age.9
Of a population of just over 5.3 million, 805 694 people are aged 67 y ears or older.10
There are no reliable official figures on sexual orientation. In 2008, 2013 and 2017, the
question, A re you attracted to people of th e same sex?’ was asked in three reports on
attitudes towards l esbian, gay, and bisexual people. The respon ses have changed over
time: the percentage of the population who answered that they were attracted to people
1 See front page of Statistics Norway on www.ssb.no.
2 See Statistics Norway at https://www.ssb.no/befolkning/statistikker/innvbef.
3 Statistics Norway, https://www.ssb.no/befolkning/statistikker/innvbef.
4 Statistics Norway, https://www.ssb.no/befolkning/statistikker/innvbef, Norwegian Government (2009)
Action plan to promote equality and prevent ethnic discrimination 2009-2012,
https://www.regjeringen.no/globalassets/upload/bld/planer/2009/hpl_etnisk_diskriminering.pdf, and
Norwegian Government (2009) Action plan for improving the living conditions of Roma in Oslo
https://www.regjeringen.no/globalassets/upload/fad/vedlegg/sami/handlingsplan_2009_rom_oslo.pdf.
5 See Statistics Norway: https://www.ssb.no/kultur-og-fritid/statistikker/kirke_kostra/aar.
6 See Statistics Norway: http://www.ssb.no/kultur-og-fritid/artikler-og-publikasjoner/norge-et-sekulaert-
samfunn (in Norwegian). Religious affiliation is not registered officially through national statistics, thus the
numbers are based on information about membership given by each religious group themselves.
7 See Statistics Norway: https://www.ssb.no/trosamf.
8 Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs:
https://www.bufdir.no/Statistikk_og_analyse/Nedsatt_funksjonsevne/Antall/.
9 As per statistics from the end of, 2019 at http://www.ssb.no/arbeid-og-lonn/statistikker/akutu.
10 See annual statistics from Statistics Norway on population, at https://www.ssb.no/statbank/table/05196/.

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