Vital statistics for my country
The population of Norway was around 5.5 million in 2023.
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.
The total population of Norway on 1 July 2023 was 5,514,042. 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
Total fertility rate
1.85 children born/woman (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 143rd
Mother's mean age at first birth
28.9 years
Birth rate
12.2 births/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 160th
Life expectancy
Life expectancy at birth
total population: 82 years. Country comparison to the world: 22nd
male: 79.9 years
female: 84.1 years (2018 est.)
Death rate
8 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 90th
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 (born in Norway with two parents also born in Norway).
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.
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.
Norwegian (the written standards Bokmål and Nynorsk).
Uralic languages – South Sámi, Lule Sámi, North Sámi and Kven – are additional official languages of some municipalities. English is often a second language for many not just because it is the global lingua franca but because we have an affinity with the English who gave us aid during the war against the Nazis.
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.
The total population of Norway on 1 July 2023 was 5,514,042. 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
Total fertility rate
1.85 children born/woman (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 143rd
Mother's mean age at first birth
28.9 years
Birth rate
12.2 births/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 160th
Life expectancy
Life expectancy at birth
total population: 82 years. Country comparison to the world: 22nd
male: 79.9 years
female: 84.1 years (2018 est.)
Death rate
8 deaths/1,000 population (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 90th
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 (born in Norway with two parents also born in Norway).
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.
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.
Norwegian (the written standards Bokmål and Nynorsk).
Uralic languages – South Sámi, Lule Sámi, North Sámi and Kven – are additional official languages of some municipalities. English is often a second language for many not just because it is the global lingua franca but because we have an affinity with the English who gave us aid during the war against the Nazis.
