On the contrary to Statistics Norway’s report, the recent OECD report (International Migration Outlook 2013) shows that immigrants in Norway positively contribute to the economy, writes Norwegian daily Aftenposten.
Senior administrator of OECD, Thomas Liebig said they have calculated the result in several ways, and all proved that immigrants in Norway contribute positively to treasury.
The average direct net contribution of immigrant households in Norway to the Treasury is estimated to be 4505 euros .
Liebig also notes that immigrants in some OECD countries actually pay more on average into the treasury than non-immigrants. This is the case in Italy, Greece, Spain, Portugal, the UK and Luxembourg.
– This means more and more also for Norway. Previously, a large proportion of immigration to Norway was related to refugees and family reunification, but recently you have received a large proportion of migrant workers, who have positive impact on the country’s finances, says Liebig.
He also points out that Norway is one of the few countries where immigrants have increased their average contribution to the Treasury during the financial crisis. In fact their contribution has increased more than the contribution from native Norwegians, which has remained unchanged, according to the report.
Less Benefit Cost
Another surprising fact in the report is that immigrants do not take more direct benefit from the Treasury than people living in the country already.
The researchers also considered the wider effects of immigration where they also take account of other sectors that are affected, such as health, education and labor.
Less Health Care Cost, More Education Cost
They state that immigrants are on average younger and therefore have less negative impact on health costs, but they have more children and therefore increases the cost of the school system.
– Even when we look at the effects of the pension system, the outcome is positive for Norway. It is not in that way in any other country.
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