Thai immigrants, among others from Asia and Middle East, play big part in growing population of Norway which increased by 27,900 people last year.
Norway’s total population now stands at 4,552,000, according to fresh numbers released recently by the state Central Bureau of Statistics.
The nearly 30,000 ‘new Norwegians’ represent growth of only about 0.6%. The increase, however, was significant because it was the biggest growth since 1972 with exception of 1998 and 1999.
Much of it was attributed to increased immigration, which in turn reflected quicker application processing. The net immigration count (the amount exceeding those that emigrated out of Norway) was 17,200, compared to 8,000 in 2001.
Most of the new immigrants to Norway came from Asia and the Middle East, specifically Thailand, Iraq and Afghanistan.
The amount of births that exceeded deaths was 10,700, according to the statistics bureau.
