Status Oslo
The numbers behind Oslo.
For investors, founders, talent and event organisers getting to know Oslo.
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What defines Oslo...
Oslo packs a surprising amount into a capital of its size. International businesses,
world class research, cultural venues and well functioning institutions sit alongside
fjord and forest, all within easy reach.
Oslo at a Glance in 2026
1.5 million people
in Greater Oslo
Top-ranked city with under 2 million people in the Global Cities Index
3,500+ startups and growth companies
headquartered in Greater Oslo
858 companies backed by venture capital
12 unicorns
companies that have reached valuations of US$1bn or more
1 company valued at US$10bn or more
Norway’s front door
Oslo is Norway’s main connection to the wider world. International business, finance, research and travel come together here, alongside links to the country’s other centres of expertise: energy in Stavanger, marine science in Bergen, engineering in Trondheim and Arctic research in Tromsø.
Leading European Energy Exchange
In Europe, only London has more publicly listed energy companies than Oslo Børs. The exchange is also the region’s biggest marketplace for shipping stocks, as well as a world leader for the seafood sector.
17 new listings on the Oslo Stock Exchange in 2026 so far
Oslo's share of Norway
Where Oslo stands out
From cycling to startup funding, from international meetings to cultural life, Oslo is rated among the world's leading 10% of cities in very different fields.
Among 148 cities worldwide
Smart city performance
The highest-ranked national capital in the IMD Smart City Index, second only to Zurich overall17
In the published top 20 for climate
Climate resilience
Oliver Wyman Forum's published top 20 for climate resilience, after Bern and Gothenburg, ahead of Zurich, Helsinki and Copenhagen18
Among 515 cities worldwide
Access to frequent public transport
Residents living within 1 km of frequent rapid transport, first in the Nordics19
Well run. Good to live in.
Oslo is the only capital city to make the top 10 on both quality of life and governance.
"What we're doing today is not deciding what Oslo should be. Oslo already is something. What we're doing is agreeing to tell that story together, clearly and consistently."
Mehmet Kaan Inan, Vice Mayor for Culture and Business for the City of Oslo
Explore how Oslo is changing, and what it offers visitors, talent, investors and innovators.
Oslo's Momentum
Oslo has been quietly expanding its horizons. Its population and business community have grown, while visitors, students and international connections are adding more layers to the city.
The result is a capital with more going on and a wider reach than before.
How Oslo has changed since 2019
+9.2% residents
since 2019, the fastest of the Nordic capital regions and seven times the EU rate
+8.6% workers
since 2019, ahead of Stockholm and Helsinki and more than twice the EU rate
+32% international hotel nights
since 2019
+11% hotel nights overall, to a record 5.92 million in 2025
Annual changes, 2024 to 2025
+4.3% students
at universities and colleges, to 93,243
+5.6% new businesses
registered, to 14,570
+16% conferences
international association meetings that rotate between countries, to 80
"The population of Oslo has grown by 35% over the last twenty years and a third of people living here have an international background. My impression is that outsiders see Oslo as very homogenous. In some ways it is, but you actually have more diversity than people realise."21
Siw Andersen, CEO Oslo&Co
Oslo for Visitors
Oslo blends a diverse range of cultural, historical, and active experiences. Festivals, museums and restaurants create a rich urban environment along the fjord within easy reach of expansive nature.
Well-known for winter sports and an active lifestyle, Oslo is a popular destination all year-round with many direct flights from across Europe.
Why people come
Few cities claim such a compact and thoughtfully integrated mix of cultural sights, stunning architecture, waterfront activities, and green space.
The museums
2.4 million
visits to Norway’s three most visited museums, the Nasjonalmuseet, MUNCH and the Natural History Museum
The visitor economy
More people are discovering Oslo as a holiday destination, with leisure travel now accounting for most hotel nights. Business visitors and international conferences add to the mix, making the capital a substantial contributor to Norway’s tourism economy.
€2.7bn
value created by Oslo’s tourism industry, up 5% on 2019 after inflation
26% of the value created by tourism across Norway
61% for pleasure
7.5 percentage point rise in holiday and leisure stays as a share of hotel nights since 2019
What others are noticing
Oslo is turning up in international guides and best-of lists for its restaurants, cocktail bars, coffee shops and spas. The fjord and forest are getting some competition.
Among the world’s luxury spa resorts
Spa
Best Luxury Spa Resort: The Well, Scandinavia’s largest spa, 15 minutes from the centre
Among the world’s best coffee shops
Coffee
Fuglen, number 1 in Monocle’s list of 25 of the world’s best coffee shops
Connected to the world
For some visitors, Oslo is the main event. For others, it is the starting point for discovering the rest of Norway. Direct connections across Europe and beyond make both possible.
Direct flights from Oslo
Drag the globe to turn it. Click a city for the detail.
| Flying time | Cities all year | Seasonal only | All |
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Oslo for Talent
In Oslo, universities and employers offer opportunity, while public services, local culture and access to the outdoors shape everyday life.
It is a city that makes room for work, study and a life beyond both.
Learning and opportunity
Oslo’s universities and business schools draw students from across the world, and their graduates have gone on to found many of the city’s newer companies.
7,000+ international students
at the University of Oslo, Oslo Metropolitan University and BI Norwegian Business School
1 in 8 University of Oslo students come from abroad
319 alumni-founded firms
in Oslo’s startup ecosystem, including 28 that have raised US$100m or more
72 companies spun out of university research
13th most desirable
student city in the world, up from 18th in 2023
Top 10% for research output
the University of Oslo, 158th of 1,594 universities worldwide by number of publications
Living well
Good city living is about the ordinary things: the journey to work, the air outside and the services on your doorstep. Oslo scores well on many of these essentials, although rents continue to climb.
10th for lifestyle appeal
in Monocle’s annual Quality of Life Survey
The top 10
- 1Tokyo
- 2Copenhagen
- 3Lisbon
- 4Vienna
- 5Sydney
- 6Zurich
- 7Madrid
- 8Paris
- 9Munich
- 10Oslo
7 in 10 trips on foot, bike or transit
of residents’ daily trips, excluding journeys over 100 km
How daily trips are made
On foot 36%Public transport 26%Bike 9%Car 25%Other 4%
Top 12% for clean air
of 600 cities, measured in the inner city
24th for living conditions
of 173 cities in the EIU Global Liveability Index
+6% rents
for an average two-room flat, to €1,302 a month
45.5% electric
of passenger cars in Oslo are fully battery-powered
Life on the doorstep
Some of the best parts of daily life in Oslo cost little or nothing, from flood lit ski trails to libraries and free gear lending.
Oslo for Investors and Innovators
Oslo’s newer companies draw on expertise built over decades. Energy, engineering and maritime experience sit alongside software and health research, with founders applying these strengths in fields from robotics to sensors to industrial AI.
The result is a business community with deep local roots and connections to markets far beyond Norway.
Startups and scale-ups
Recent investment and acquisitions show how Oslo’s startups are reaching beyond their home market.
The ecosystem
US$51.6bn
combined value of Oslo’s tech companies, up tenfold in under a decade
3,618
startup and growth companies
477acquired or listed
589with a serial founder
235working with AI
Major deals
US$3.1bn
In June, Aker and its partners agreed to sell Cognite, an industrial AI company founded in 2016, to Schneider Electric
Investment
€5.6bn
of venture capital raised since 2019
74% of the money raised in 2025 came from investors outside Norway or of unrecorded origin
Specialisms
Global top 40 in three fields
Rank of 317 ecosystems by the scale and maturity of each sector
23rdEnergy
37thClimate tech
34thRobotics
With 1.55 million people, Oslo is the smallest of the 16 ecosystems in the top 40 for all three.
Other specialist rankings
By region, and for robotics by concentration
7thenergy tech, in Europe
15throbotics startups relative to population, of 317
1stcybersecurity, in the Nordics
8thgaming, in Europe
The business base
The startups get plenty of attention. But Oslo also has a substantial established economy, from maritime exports and financial services to research and specialist industries.
Export reach
€19.3bn
goods and services exports from Oslo
€5.1bnfrom maritime industries, more than a quarter of all exports
Specialist strengths
7th
in Europe for fintech, up 27 places worldwide in a year
2nd
most established data centre market in Europe, the Middle East and Africa
21st
by innovation intensity among the world’s top 100 science and technology clusters
Sources
- 1↩ International businesses: Dealroom, Greater Oslo as Oslo municipality and Akershus, to September 2026, 12 unicorns past and present and one decacorn; AksjeNorge, 292 listed companies at the start of 2026.
- 2↩ World class research: CWTS Leiden Ranking 2025, the University of Oslo 158th of 1,594 for research output; Research Council of Norway 2026, Oslo hosts 11 of Norway’s 19 Centres of Excellence.
- 3↩ Cultural venues: Norges museumsforbund, 2025 statistics, Norway’s three most visited museums are in Oslo municipality.
- 4↩ Well functioning institutions: Oxford Economics, Global Cities Index 2026, Oslo joint 8th of 1,000 cities for governance.
- 5↩ Fjord and forest: European Forest Institute 2025, 72% tree cover, and City of Oslo, 69 bathing places, read 13 October 2026. The city calls that list some of its bathing places, so 69 is the number listed, not all that exist.
- 6↩ Statistics Norway table 01222, Oslo municipality and Akershus, 22 municipalities, at 30 June 2026: 1,482,423. The Global Cities Index placing is Oxford Economics 2026, and under two million people is our measure, not their category.
- 7↩ Statistics Norway table 09817, Oslo municipality at 1 January 2026: 34.97% are immigrants or Norwegian-born to immigrant parents. Residents born abroad is OECD, foreign-born population in functional urban areas, Metro Oslo 25.6% in 2025, a narrower measure whose latest year differs by city.
- 8↩ Dealroom, Oslo&Co’s Oslo ecosystem portal, overview tiles, Greater Oslo Region (Dealroom), live platform read 12 October 2026: more than 3,500 startup and growth companies and 858 backed by venture capital, against 870 in the 2025 count.
- 9↩ Dealroom, Greater Oslo as Oslo municipality and Akershus, to September 2026: 12 unicorns and one company valued at ten billion dollars or more. Twelve unicorns is past and present, both those worth a billion dollars or more now and those sold or listed above it.
- 10↩ Eurostat, demo_r_pjanind3, median age by NUTS 3 region at 1 January 2025: Oslo 36.4 years, third youngest of the 30 regions containing a European capital, after Byen København 34.2 and Arrondissement de Bruxelles-Capitale 36.1. NUTS 3 Oslo is Oslo municipality.
- 11↩ Statistics Norway table 11652, average agreed monthly salary in Oslo municipality in the second quarter of 2026, NOK 66,920, converted at 11.1268, Norges Bank monthly average January to August 2026. The ranking of 313 cities is Khanna and others, NBER Working Paper 34503, which does not publish the table of cities.
- 12↩ European Forest Institute, May 2025, on European Environment Agency data: 72.03% tree cover, the highest among Europe’s capitals. The publisher says Oslo on the Environment Agency’s city unit, not Oslo municipality, and does not publish the field of 38 capitals.
- 13↩ Statistics Norway table 14166 and table 14162, hotels and similar establishments, Oslo municipality, the same statistics by tourism region. Hotels only: campsites, cabins and short-term letting are not in these figures.
- 14↩ ICCA, GlobeWatch Country & City Rankings 2025, released May 2026: international and regional association meetings held in 2025, Oslo municipality. Oslo’s count is behind ICCA’s membership wall and is not in the public abstract. The same ranking places Oslo 27th worldwide, up from 29th, and second in the Nordics after Copenhagen.
- 15↩ Euronext, sector focused listing solutions, the Oslo marketplaces, read 13 October 2026. Counted by companies, not market value, and Euronext operates these marketplaces, so this is the operator describing its own market.
- 16↩ Listed companies: Euronext, equities listed in Oslo, read 13 October 2026, the three Oslo marketplaces Børs, Growth and Expand, with AksjeNorge as comparison; new listings: Euronext, as of 24 September 2026, all three marketplaces. Euronext lists instruments, not companies: the reduction from 294 instruments to 290 companies is ours, not the publisher’s.
- 17↩ IMD World Competitiveness Center, Smart City Index 2026: Oslo second of 148 cities, after Zurich. Highest-ranked national capital is our reading of the top 20, not IMD’s category, and IMD gives Oslo’s population as a range from 710,000 to 1,100,000. The same index asks residents about cultural activities, where Oslo is 10th of 148, down from 8th.
- 18↩ Oliver Wyman Forum, Cities Shaping the Future 2026, 19 May 2026, 1,500 cities: Oslo is in the published top 20 for climate resilience. Climate resilience is a tier and not a rank, and the 25 cities in the top tier are not ordered, so after Bern and Gothenburg is our presentation.
- 19↩ ITDP (Institute for Transportation and Development Policy), Atlas of Sustainable City Transport 2026, annual, April 2026, 515 cities: 69.3% of residents within 1 km of rapid transport, Oslo 7th, up 12 places. Urban Oslo, the built-up area including Bærum and Asker, not Oslo municipality. A second measure in the same atlas puts 64% of residents near a protected bike lane, 24th of 515.
- 20↩ Oxford Economics, Global Cities Index 2026, 1,000 cities: Oslo 6th for quality of life and joint 8th for governance. Oslo is the only capital in both top tens; Bergen is in both but is not a capital.
- 21↩ Statistics Norway table 01222 for population growth and table 09817 for international background, Oslo municipality.
- 22↩ Museum visits: Norges museumsforbund, early statistics for 2025, table updated 24 March 2026, Oslo municipality. Preliminary figures.
- 23↩ Harbour promenade: VisitOSLO, read 8 October 2026, Oslo municipality. Oslo municipality gives it as over 9 km.
- 24↩ Bathing places: Klimaetaten, KlimaOslo, published 2 June 2025, updated 29 June 2026, Oslo municipality. The city’s own list calls these some of the bathing places, not all of them.
- 25↩ Ski trails: VisitOSLO, read 8 October 2026, Oslo municipality; 90 km of the network is floodlit.
- 26↩ Value created by tourism: Innovasjon Norge, value creation in Norwegian tourism by county 2024, analysis by EY, 20 November 2025, in 2024 kroner. Oslo NOK 31.5bn of Norway’s NOK 120.6bn, shown as €2.7bn at 11.6276, Norges Bank annual average 2024.
- 27↩ Statistics Norway table 14166, hotels, Oslo municipality, 2019 and 2025, share of each year’s total by purpose of stay.
- 28↩ Statistics Norway table 14162, hotels and similar establishments, Oslo municipality, 2025. The ranking is of foreign markets: guests resident in Norway are excluded.
- 29↩ Michelin stars: MICHELIN Guide, Oslo listings, read 13 October 2026, Oslo municipality. The count for Oslo is ours, from the guide’s own listings; Michelin does not publish a city total.
- 30↩ Spa: World Luxury Spa Awards 2025, global winner, as listed by The Well. Greater Oslo, not Oslo municipality: The Well is at Kolbotn in Nordre Follo.
- 31↩ Bars: Europe’s 50 Best Bars 2026, first edition, 30 June 2026, Oslo municipality; Himkok is also named The Best Bar in Norway 2026.
- 32↩ Coffee: Monocle, 25 of the world’s best coffee shops, 27 May 2026. Oslo municipality.
- 33↩ Direct flights: FlightsFrom, destinations from Oslo Gardermoen, read 12 October 2026, our own extract
Flyruter_Gardermoen_2026-10. Oslo Airport Gardermoen only, not Sandefjord Torp, and the time rings are fitted to our own 80 all-year routes, not measured times. - 34↩ International students: HK-dir, DBH tables 135 and 123, registered students with foreign citizenship, autumn 2025, re-pulled 6 October 2026: 7,066 at the University of Oslo, OsloMet and BI. Three institutions, not a geography.
- 35↩ OECD Functional Urban Areas, tertiary attainment ages 25 to 64 (POP_Y25T64_ISCED11_5T8_SH), 2024 or latest year, read 13 October 2026: Metro Oslo 9th of 600+ European metro areas. Metro Oslo is the OECD functional urban area, not Oslo municipality.
- 36↩ DBH/HKDir table 104, read 14 October 2026, our own extract
DBH_mastergrader_2026-10-14. UiO, OsloMet and BI: a selection of institutions, not a geography. - 37↩ Dealroom, Oslo&Co’s Oslo ecosystem portal, university-linked startup formation, read 12 October 2026: 319 companies, 28 valued above US$100m and 72 spinouts. Dealroom’s own Oslo unit, a different boundary from Greater Oslo and from Greater Oslo Region.
- 38↩ QS Quacquarelli Symonds, Best Student Cities, student desirability, 2026 edition published July 2026, read 2 October 2026: Oslo 13th, Oslo municipality. The 18th place is from the 2023 edition.
- 39↩ CWTS Leiden Ranking 2025, Traditional Edition, results file v1 (doi 10.5281/zenodo.17473109), publications 2020 to 2023, read 13 October 2026: the University of Oslo 158th of 1,594. One university, not a city.
- 40↩ Monocle, Quality of Life Survey 2026, published July 2026: Oslo 10th. Monocle’s own city unit, and the order of the other nine cities is not published.
- 41↩ Opinion AS for Statens vegvesen, National Travel Survey 2025, figure 40: walking 36%, public transport 26%, cycling 9%. Oslo municipality.
- 42↩ World Air Quality Index project, inner-city PM10 median, 600 cities, 2025 edition, read 13 October 2026: Oslo 72nd. Oslo municipality, inner city.
- 43↩ Economist Intelligence Unit, Global Liveability Index 2026, published 6 July 2026: Oslo 24th of 173 cities. Oslo municipality.
- 44↩ Statistics Norway table 09895, rental market survey, average monthly rent for a two-room dwelling, 2025: NOK 15,260, shown as €1,302 at 11.7177, Norges Bank annual average 2025. The rent zone is Oslo and Bærum, not Oslo municipality.
- 45↩ Opplysningsrådet for veitrafikken, passenger car fleet by fuel at 4 December 2025, press release 5 December 2025: 45.5% battery electric. Oslo municipality.
- 46↩ Kindergartens: Statistics Norway table 09220, 2025, read 8 October 2026, 644 in Oslo municipality. Price: City of Oslo, from 1 August 2026, NOK 1,200 a month shown as €108 at 11.1268, Norges Bank monthly average January to August 2026; July is free and meals are NOK 320 a month on top.
- 47↩ Deichman, press release 28 July 2025, Oslo municipality: 22 libraries across Oslo, the operator’s own count. Other counts give 23 to 25.
- 48↩ OsloFamilie, guide to free sports and outdoor equipment loans, checked against BUA 12 August 2026: sixteen lending points in Oslo municipality. OsloFamilie compiles the list; BUA and Skattkammeret run the sites.
- 49↩ Dealroom, Tech Ecosystems 2026, combined enterprise value of 317 ecosystems, read 13 October 2026: Greater Oslo Region (Dealroom) 63rd at US$51.6bn. The 2025 edition gave US$62.3bn, and the tenfold rise is measured from 2017.
- 50↩ Dealroom, Oslo&Co extract of 13 October 2026, Greater Oslo Region (Dealroom), counted on headquarters: 3,618 startup and growth companies. The portal’s own overview tile, read 12 October 2026, gave 3,514 on the same definition.
- 51↩ Dealroom, Oslo&Co extract of 10 September 2026, Greater Oslo as Oslo municipality and Akershus, 22 municipalities: 477 acquired or listed, 589 with a serial founder and 235 working with AI, of 3,484 companies. A different universe from the 3,618 above, and a company can carry more than one tag.
- 52↩ Amounts are enterprise value, from each company’s own announcement or stock exchange notice, Greater Oslo, each row with its own year. Adevinta is equity value and Aker Carbon Capture an 80 per cent stake, deals with no published price are excluded, and Cognite, agreed June 2026, awaits regulatory approval. * Reported in kroner, converted at Norges Bank’s average for the year announced.
- 53↩ Dealroom exits view, acquisitions of startups headquartered in the region, exported 7 October 2026, covering July 2025 to October 2026: the agreed sale of Disruptive Technologies at US$130m. Greater Oslo as Oslo municipality and Akershus; the company is in Bærum.
- 54↩ Dealroom, Oslo&Co extract of 8 September 2026, 1,110 venture rounds, Greater Oslo as Oslo municipality and Akershus, 22 municipalities, 2019 to 2026: €5.6bn, converted from kroner at Norges Bank’s annual averages, 9.8527 for 2019 to 11.7177 for 2025 and 11.1268 for 2026. 209 rounds carry no amount, so every year is understated, and 2026 is January to August, not annualised.
- 55↩ Dealroom, Oslo&Co’s Oslo ecosystem portal, funding by investor headquarters, 2025, read 12 October 2026, Greater Oslo Region (Dealroom): US$434m in total, Norway 114, Europe 156, United States 121, Asia 24 and other 17. Other holds both rest of world and funding whose investor origin is not recorded.
- 56↩ Dealroom, Tech Ecosystems 2026, Global Champions, 28 May 2026, re-counted 12 October 2026: Greater Oslo Region (Dealroom) 23rd for energy, 37th for climate tech and 34th for robotics. The 1.55 million is OECD Metro Oslo, a different unit, and the count of 16 cities in all three top 40s is ours.
- 57↩ Dealroom, Tech Ecosystems 2026, global rankings of 317 ecosystems, read 13 October 2026, Greater Oslo Region (Dealroom): energy 23rd and 7th in Europe, robotics 15th, gaming 27th and 8th in Europe. Cybersecurity is 43rd of 317, the highest in the Nordics, down from 37th. These are Global Champions rankings, by the scale and maturity of each sector. Measured per inhabitant instead, Oslo is 19th of 317 for energy startups and 22nd for early stage funding, 2022 to 2025.
- 58↩ Menon Economics, Fylkesvedlegg til Eksportmeldingen 2026, published April 2026, 2025 estimates, Oslo municipality: just under NOK 226bn, maritime NOK 60bn, shown as €19.3bn and €5.1bn at 11.7177, Norges Bank annual average 2025. Menon is a commissioned analysis.
- 59↩ Z/Yen and Long Finance, with the Qatar Financial Centre Authority, Global Financial Centres Index 40, 16 September 2026, Oslo municipality: 7th in Europe and 33rd of 114 worldwide, up 27 places from 60th.
- 60↩ Cushman & Wakefield, Data Center Global Market Comparison 2026, established markets, top 10 in EMEA: Greater Oslo as Oslo municipality and Akershus, 2nd behind Helsinki. New in the top 10 among the established markets.
- 61↩ WIPO, Global Innovation Index 2026, top 100 science and technology clusters, released 8 September 2026, five years to 2025: 21st by innovation intensity and 89th by size. WIPO’s own Oslo cluster, population 1.11 million, close to Urban Oslo.
- 62↩ OECD Regions and Cities, functional urban areas, population by age and sex (DSD_FUA_DEMO@DF_AGE_SEX v1.2), 2025 or latest year, retrieved from the OECD API 14 October 2026: Metro Oslo 68.0% aged 15 to 64, 1,053,982 of 1,551,008. Second among European capital metropolitan areas over a million, after London; the cut of capitals is ours.
- 63↩ NAV Oslo, monthly labour market statistics, September 2026, Oslo municipality: 2.7% registered unemployment, 11,028 people, down 6% on a year earlier.
- 64↩ JLL, Insight Office Nordics, autumn 2026, released 1 October 2026: 8.1% office vacancy. JLL’s own Oslo office market area, not a municipal boundary.
Status Oslo · Insight & Analytics.
Insight & Analytics · Oslo & Co · 2026
Start with a conversation.
-
Isaac Dankwah
Senior Advisor Insight & Analysis
isaac@osloandco.no +47 995 90 982 -
Kari Lundgren
Senior Advisor PR
kari@osloandco.no +47 468 44 919