IN NUMBERS: Who are Norway’s newest citizens?

Since the introduction of dual citizenship, the number of those choosing to become a citizen of Norway has increased and remained close to 40,000. 

By comparison, in the years leading up to the introduction of dual citizenship between 10,000 and 13,000 foreign nationals were typically granted citizenship each year.  

Dual citizenship comes with several benefits, namely, receiving rights in two different countries, access to a Norwegian passport, voting rights, and gaining the rights of an EEA national if you don’t have them already. 

READ MORE: Eight key advantages of Norwegian citizenship

Applying for Norwegian citizenship comes with several requirements and quite a bit of paperwork. Despite that, 97 percent of all applications were granted in Norway last year, according to figures from the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI). 

This is an increase of two percentage points on the figures for 2022. 

In recent years, those originally from Syria have been the largest group to be granted Norwegian citizenship. This trend continued last year, and they made up over a quarter of all successful applications in 2023. 

In total, 9,003 Syrians became Norwegian citizens last year; nearly three times as many Syrians were granted Norwegian citizenship than the next largest group. 

As one of the largest immigrant groups in Norway, it is no surprise that many Poles choose to settle down in Norway and take up citizenship. Some 3,364 Polish nationals became Norwegian in 2023. 

Eritreans were the third largest group to be granted Norwegian citizenship, meaning the largest groups to be granted citizenship in 2022 carried the trend into 2023. 2,596 Eritreans successfully applied for Norwegian citizenship. 

Swedes are also a constant mainstay when it comes to citizenship figures. Swedes can take up Norwegian citizenship with relative ease, only having to live in the country for two years and not having to pass formal language exams. 

An increasing number of British nationals have chosen to take up Norwegian citizenship since the introduction of dual citizenship, with the large number of Brits becoming Norwegian also potentially being driven by Brexit. 

Last year, more than 1,000 Brits opted to become Norwegian. This is an increase of around 150 compared to the year before. Becoming a Norwegian national grants Brits some of the EEA rights they lost when the United Kingdom left the EU. 

Figures from 2019 show (before the UK formally left the EU and before dual citizenship was introduced) just 23 British nationals opted for Norwegian citizenship. 

Not having to sacrifice their existing British citizenship allows the flexibility of moving between both countries. 

After the Brits, Russians were the next largest group to be granted Norwegian citizenship, with just over 900 successful applications. Despite this, the numbers were down overall by 800 compared to the year before.

Those originally hailing from Somalia, Afghanistan, The Philippines, Iraq and Serbia were the next largest groups to be granted citizenship. 

Around 667 Germans were granted Norwegian citizenship in 2023. This number may likely increase in the coming years, as Germany recently passed a landmark bill to allow dual citizenship. This means Germans can opt to become Norwegian without sacrificing their existing citizenship. 

Slightly more, 761 Americans chose to take up Norwegian citizenship in 2023 compared to 2022. 

Finns, Belgians, Cameroonians, Slovenians, South Africans, Malaysians and Venezuelans proved to be the most prudent when filling out the paperwork, as they were the groups of applicants with a 100 percent application success rate. 

Stateless citizens had the hardest time having their applications granted. Just 82 percent of applications from stateless individuals were granted. This was likely due to the difficulties in verifying the applicant’s identity – or other issues.