Norway’s Not-So-Baby Boom

The population of Norway will soon reach the five million mark. According to our Norwegian correspondent The Observer, the Norwegian media acknowledge the major part that immigration plays in the current population surge, but fail to mention how much of the influx comes from Muslim countries.

He notes:

The article has a very positive tone, and the information presented in it is heavily sugar-coated. The fact that Norwegians are being taken over by foreigners is apparently a cause for celebration.

Nor is there any mention of “asylum seekers” or dope-selling Africans, only hardworking Eastern Europeans and Swedes. You may remember the article I sent you about a month ago which revealed that Mohammed is now the most popular boy’s name in three municipalities in Norway. As far as I’m aware, Mohammed is not a popular name in Eastern Europe.

The other day a newspaper article presented new information on Eastern European migrants. It turns out that in the last four years there has been a tenfold increase in migrants from that part of the world claiming unemployment benefits in Norway.

I don’t even want to think about a Norway that has population of six million, which the article tells us we’ll hit sometime around 2025. Heaven help us all.

I also notice that the article refers to the attractions of the Norwegian job market for foreigners seeking work, but says nothing about the lavish welfare benefits that lure so many Somalis and other culture-enrichers to the frigid north.

The Observer has kindly translated a report from Nettavisen:

Will you be the mother of Norwegian number 5 million?

Today the Norwegian Central Bureau of Statistics picked a date for when Norway will reach the five million mark. According to their predictions we’ll be able to welcome Norwegian number 5 million on March 19, 2012. The SSB has picked this date based on trends for the past 12-13 months, with a particular emphasis on developments after the New Year. But it is not certain that citizen number 5 million will be a newborn. It could just as well be an immigrant.

As net immigration accounted for more than 70 percent of the population growth in the first half of 2011, more than two-thirds, the likelihood that it is a new-Norwegian who gets to open the champagne bottle upon arrival is quite high.

Norway will be the second largest Nordic country in 15 years

Norway will also experience a population explosion that the other Nordic countries will be unable to keep up with. Soon we’ll be bigger than Denmark and Finland.

According to the Nordic Statistical Yearbook for 2011, the population growth in Norway in the next fifteen years will be three times higher than that of the other Nordic countries. By 2025, we will be close to six million, surpassing both Finland and Denmark.

At the top in Europe

Norway is one of the fastest growing countries in Europe at the moment. From 2010 to 2011 the population increased with 1.3 percent, the equivalent of 65,000 individuals, which is the second highest population growth ever recorded in Norwegian history, only surpassed by the previous period between 2009-2010

“This growth is a result of high immigration to Norway, and we expect that this immigration will continue, population researcher at SSB,” Helge Brunborg tells Nettavisen.

Only Luxembourg and Turkey have a higher population growth than Norway. Brunborg believes the reason for this increase is quite obvious.

“It’s mostly due to the Norwegian labor market and the strong Norwegian economy. We have a low unemployment rate and good salaries. This attracts immigrants,” he says.

The Norwegian immigration surplus has almost tripled in the last few years, compared with figures from 2004. Norway also attracts more immigrants from our neighboring countries.

“The biggest numbers are coming from the ten eastern European EU members, in particular Poland and Lithuania,” Brunborg says.

Sweden and the Philippines also contribute significantly to the population hike in Norway.

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