Eritreans in Norway are citizens and residents of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

who are of Eritrean descent. Most have a background as

asylum seeker An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country and applies for asylum (i.e., international protection) in that other country. An asylum seeker is an immigrant who has been forcibly displaced and mi ...

s that have fled

Isaias Afwerki Isaias Afwerki ( ti, ኢሳይያስ ኣፍወርቂ, ; born 2 February 1946) is an Eritrean politician and partisan who has been the president of Eritrea since shortly after he led the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) to victory in ...

s regime.

Demographics

According to

Statistics Norway Statistics Norway ( no, Statistisk sentralbyrå, abbreviated to ''SSB'') is the Norwegian statistics bureau. It was established in 1876. Relying on a staff of about 1,000, Statistics Norway publish about 1,000 new statistical releases every yea ...

, in 2017, there are a total 19,957 persons of Eritrean origin living in Norway. Of those, 3,661 individuals were born in Norway to immigrant parents. In 2020 the number had risen to 27,855 people, making Eritreans the second biggest migration group from

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

after

Somalis The Somalis ( so, Soomaalida 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒆𐒖, ar, صوماليون) are an ethnic group native to the Horn of Africa who share a common ancestry, culture and history. The Lowland East Cushitic Somali language is the shared ...

Socioeconomics

According to Statistics Norway, as of 2014, around 59% of Eritrea-born immigrants have a persistently low income. This was a higher proportion than the native population and many other immigrant groups, largely because most Eritrean individuals arrived as asylum immigrants, who tend to have lower incomes. Persons born in Norway to Eritrean immigrants have a significantly smaller low income percentage of approximately 28%.

Crime

According to Statistics Norway, in the 2010-2013 period, the proportion of Eritrea-born perpetrators of criminal offences aged 15 and older in Norway was 79.94 per 1000 residents. When corrected for variables such as age and gender as well as employment, the total decreased to 67.09 after age and gender adjustment and to 52.75 after employment adjustment. This is higher compared to the averages of 44.9 among native

Norwegians Norwegians ( no, nordmenn) are a North Germanic ethnic group and nation native to Norway, where they form the vast majority of the population. They share a common culture and speak the Norwegian language. Norwegians are descended from the N ...

. As of 2015, a total of 547 Eritrea citizens residing in Norway incurred sanctions. The principal breaches were traffic offences (330 individuals), followed by other offences for profit (60 individuals), public order and integrity violations (51 individuals), violence and maltreatment (39 individuals), drug and alcohol offences (35 individuals), property theft (22 individuals), sexual offences (8 individuals), criminal damage (2 individuals), and other offences (0 individuals).

Education

According to Statistics Norway, as of 2016, among a total 17,022 Eritrea-born immigrants aged 16 and older, 12,302 individuals had attained a below upper secondary education level, 2,429 had attained an upper secondary education level, 193 had attained a tertiary vocational education level, 1,392 had attained a higher education level of up to four years in duration, 299 had attained a higher education level of more than four years in duration, and 407 had no education.

Employment

According to Statistics Norway, as of 2016, Eritrea-born immigrants aged 15-74 in Norway have an employment rate of approximately 37.9%. , their unemployment rate was also about 4.5%.

Notable people

References

{{Immigration to Norway Eritrean diaspora African diaspora in Norway