8 Billion Lives
Be born

Where you could be born / Europe / Northern Europe

Born in Norway

About 1 in 2,565 people born in 2023 started life in Norway. A boy can expect to live 82 years and a girl 85, up from 70 and 73 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and nearly everyone has basic drinking water.

1 in 2,565
odds of being born here
51,500 births · Ranked 134th of 230
82 / 85
years of life, boys / girls
Was 70 / 73 in 1950
$31,661
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 26th of 203 · extrapolated
83%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 12 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 34 in every 1,000 births to 2.4.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

0255075100195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
010203040195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth81.7 years for boys, 84.8 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 52.4 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year44,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people5.0World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles96%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV0.1%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year3 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 2.5 children on average in 1950. Now it is 1.4, below the 2.1 it takes to keep a population steady.

Children per woman
01234195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman1.40UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth31.6 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 36 and the poorest fifth 9.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2023
9%Poorest fifth
14%Second
18%Middle
23%Fourth
36%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $31,661 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth36% / 9% (2023)World Bank PIP
Unemployment3.6% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises5.5% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person-0.8% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming2% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed5% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment118% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Oslo, with 1.1 million people.

83%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
100%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Oslo1.1 million
Bergen294,029
Trondheim216,518
Stavanger151,669
Kristiansand117,237
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Norwegian Bokmål100%
Norwegian100%
Norwegian Nynorsk25%
Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian, Norwegian Nynorsk is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Oslo1.1 million
Vestland369,813
Rogaland326,698
Trøndelag252,382
Østfold214,437
Agder172,170
Vestfold170,023
Akershus151,590
Buskerud123,680
Møre og Romsdal99,049

Sourced: GeoNames Population of each state, province or region.

Large cities

Sourced: GeoNames Cities with a page: a million people or more.

All 15 regions
  • Oslo1.1 million
  • Vestland369,813
  • Rogaland326,698
  • Trøndelag252,382
  • Østfold214,437
  • Agder172,170
  • Vestfold170,023
  • Akershus151,590
  • Buskerud123,680
  • Møre og Romsdal99,049
  • Telemark84,972
  • Troms81,159
  • Innlandet76,086
  • Nordland52,939
  • Finnmark15,094

People on the move

About 2.2% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are Sweden, Denmark, Bangladesh.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
Sweden39,914
Denmark20,886
Bangladesh19,278
Residents born abroad18.2% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 2.2% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostSweden (39,914), Denmark (20,886), Bangladesh (19,278)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $1.0 billion a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

100% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 43%.

100%
of older people receive a pension (2023)
43%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2022)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Reported COVID-19 deaths, 2020 to 20245,732Our World in Data, from WHO

Now live it.

Born in Norway, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in Norway

Elsewhere in Europe

All countries

How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences