Immigrants by reason for immigration, 1 January 2009
Labour and family immigration hits record
In 2008, 48 000 immigrants with non-Nordic citizenship immigrated to Norway for the first time. Both labour and family immigration were the highest ever. Labour was the reason for immigration for almost half of them, and one third came because of family. Nine and ten per cent came because of flight and studies respectively.


Labour immigration has been the most common reason for immigration since 2006. A total of 23 200 labour immigrants came in 2008, the highest number ever. Family immigration was also record high, with 16 800 persons. A total of 4 300 came due to flight, most from Iraq and Eritrea, with 700 from each of these. A total of 4 100 persons came to study in Norway.

Labour immigration from the new EU countries in Eastern Europe
Two thirds of the 23 200 labour immigrants in 2008 came from the new EU countries in Eastern Europe, and two thirds of these came from Poland. In total, 91 300 persons have immigrated to Norway because of labour since 1990, and nearly half of them came from the countries mentioned in Eastern Europe. Only 12 100 of the labour immigrants emigrated from countries outside of Europe in this period.



Rising family immigration
While 91 per cent of the labour immigrants in 2008 emigrated from Europe, half of the family immigrants were from countries outside of Europe. A quarter, in total 4 500, came from Asia and 1 800 from Africa. Of those family immigrants, 2 800 came to a person who himself immigrated due to flight.

Family the most common reason for immigration
In the period between 1990 and 2008, family was the most common reason for immigration. Family immigrants make up the largest group, with a total of 40 per cent. Those who immigrated because of labour and flight make up 24 per cent each, and students 11 per cent. Three out of four of those who immigrated in the period 1990-2008 are still resident in Norway.

Statistics about reason for immigration includes all immigrants with non-Nordic citizenship that immigrated to Norway between 1990 and 2007. Persons who have come to Norway as family immigrants to persons with refugee background are classified as family immigrants. Employees on short-term stays (less than six months) are not registered as residents in the population register and thus not included in the statistics. Persons adopted from abroad are not included in the statistics because they are not considered as immigrants.

The most important data sources are the Central Population Register (CPR) in the Directorate of Taxes, and the Aliens Register (UDB) in the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration.


Tables
Table 1 Immigrations, by reason for immigration, year of immigration and citizenship. 1990-2008
Table 2 Immigrations, by reason for immigration and citizenship. 1990-2008
Table 3 Immigrations, by reason for immigration and citizenship. 2008
Table 4 Immigrations, by reason for immigration, year of immigration and immigrants still resident on 1 January 2009. 1990-2008. Absolute numbers and per cent.
Table 5 Immigrants with family as reason for immigration, by type of family unification, immigrant category of reference person and citizenship. 2008 and 1990-2008
Table 6 Family immigrations, by type of family unification, immigration category of reference person, year of immigration and citizenship. 2008
Table 7 Immigrations, by reason for immigration, sex and age. 1990-2008

Source