Nearly 25,000 citizens from countries within the European Economic Area (the EU plus Iceland and Liechtenstein) registered themselves as resident in Norway during the first half of this year. Another 17,500 persons from outside the European area received residence permission as well.
The numbers show how immigration is fueling Norway’s population growth, and how Norway’s strong economy is attracting persons from countries suffering economic problems. Those from EEA countries don’t need to seek permission to live in Norway, but need to register their presence with the police.
Most of the new European arrivals came, once again, from Poland, followed by Lithuanians and Germans. Most of those coming from outside the European area came from Somalia (1,638) and the Philippines (1,575), followed by Eritrea, India and Russia.
Most of those from Somalia and Eritrea were asylum seekers, while those from the Philippines were students and those from India and Russia were looking for work.
The number of foreign students arriving in Norway, meanwhile, flattened out during the first half of this year. Foreign applicants to Norwegian colleges and universities jumped by as much as 50 percent from 2009 to 2011, but the number this year is running even with last year. Just over 1,800 foreign students have applied from countries outside Europe so far this year, with the most coming from China, the US and Russia, mostly attracted by the lack of tuition fees in Norway, reports news bureau NTB.
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