Norway: Population and Key Statistics

EuropeCapital: Oslo#55 by population

Norway has only 5.6 million people, yet its oil and natural gas wealth has pushed income to about $90,000 per capita. Fed by petroleum revenues, its sovereign wealth fund exceeds $1.5 trillion, making it the largest such fund in the world.

Not an EU member but part of the European Economic Area, Norway leads the world in electric vehicle adoption and consistently ranks at the top of human development indices.

Population (2025)
5.6 million
5,610,870 people
GDP (2025)
$531bn
nominal, current US dollars
GDP per capita
$94,594
Life expectancy
83.2
years
Area
624,500
km²
Population density
9
people/km²
Median age
40.2
Internet usage
99.0%

Military Strength

Military expenditure (2024)
$10.4bn
10,435 million dollars
Share of GDP
2.09%
NATO guideline: 2%
Share of government spending
4.53%
Spending per capita
$1,860
per year, per person
Armed forces (2020)
25 thousand
25,000 active personnel
Armed forces per 1,000 people
4.5
0.85% of the labor force

Expenditure figures come from SIPRI and personnel counts from the IISS, both distributed through the World Bank. Source years differ by indicator, so each figure is shown with its own year.

How Norway compares

Norway and Germany — core indicators
020 b40 b60 b80 b100 bGDP per capita ($)Life expectancy (years)Internet usage (%)GDP per capita ($) — Norway: 94.594Life expectancy (years) — Norway: 83,2Internet usage (%) — Norway: 99GDP per capita ($) — Germany: 60.496Life expectancy (years) — Germany: 80,8Internet usage (%) — Germany: 93,5
NorwayGermany

The indicators use different scales, so the chart is a rough visual comparison only. For exact figures see the full side-by-side comparison.

Data sourcesPopulation and social indicators: UN World Population Prospects, World BankEconomy: IMF World Economic Outlook, World BankMilitary: SIPRI and IISS, distributed through the World BankLast refreshed: 2026-08-26