New popu­la­ti­on sta­tis­tics for Spits­ber­gen

Sta­tis­tics Nor­way (Sta­tis­tisk Sen­tral­by­rå) recent­ly published new figu­res on the popu­la­ti­on of Sval­bard. Accor­ding to the­se figu­res, 2556 peo­p­le were offi­ci­al­ly living in the Nor­we­gi­an sett­le­ments (Lon­gye­ar­by­en, Ny-Åle­sund) on 1 Janu­ary 2025, a decrease of 61 peo­p­le com­pared to the pre­vious year’s figu­res.

The Nor­we­gi­an govern­ment will hard­ly be plea­sed that Nor­we­gi­ans are over-repre­sen­ted among tho­se who have left: A full 50 out of 61 (around 82%) have a Nor­we­gi­an pass­port. Accor­ding to the latest figu­res, the popu­la­ti­on in Lon­gye­ar­by­en and Ny-Åle­sund, total­ling 2556 peo­p­le, includes 1626 Nor­we­gi­ans (63.6 %). And the Nor­we­gi­an share of the popu­la­ti­on is likely to decrease even fur­ther when mine 7, the last Nor­we­gi­an coal mine in Spits­ber­gen, clo­ses in the sum­mer, as Nor­we­gi­ans are also dis­pro­por­tio­na­te­ly repre­sen­ted among the miners. The govern­ment will not be hap­py with this, as a hig­her pro­por­ti­on of Nor­we­gi­ans on Sval­bard is an expli­cit poli­ti­cal goal.

The­re were offi­ci­al­ly 2556 peo­p­le living in Lon­gye­ar­by­en and Ny-Åle­sund on 1 Janu­ary 2025.

An inte­res­t­ing deve­lo­p­ment can also be seen in the non-Nor­we­gi­an popu­la­ti­on: while Thais (curr­ent­ly 113) were in second place after Nor­we­gi­ans for many years, they have now been over­ta­ken by Fili­pi­nos (127). In fourth place are Ger­mans (94) and in fifth place Rus­si­ans (67).

Spea­king of Rus­si­ans: 297 peo­p­le lived in Barents­burg and Pyra­mi­den in Janu­ary, the lowest num­ber sin­ce popu­la­ti­on sta­tis­tics began in 2013. Among the­se 297 are also a num­ber of Ukrai­ni­ans.

The­re were offi­ci­al­ly 2556 peo­p­le living in Lon­gye­ar­by­en and Ny-Åle­sund on 1 Janu­ary 2025

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