Figures released by state statistics bureau SSB on Tuesday confirm a major decline in labour migration to Norway during the first three months of this year. The number of people moving to Norway from Sweden, Poland and Lithuania, in the hopes of finding work, has fallen as much as 60 percent.

Immigrants already in Norway are also being hit the hardest by the country’s economic slowdown. SSB confirmed statements by private sector employment agencies earlier this month that not only are fewer labour migrants arriving in Norway, more are leaving.

The numbers released Tuesday show a 60 percent decline in the numbers of Swedes arriving in Norway, followed by a 51 percent reduction in migrants from Lithuania and a 28 percent decline from Poland. Swedes and Poles have long formed the largest immigrant groups in Norway.

newsinenglish.no staff