Historical archive

Reform of local government

Historical archive

Published under: Solberg's Government

Publisher: Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation

The government initiated a local government reform in 2014. The result is a reduction from 428 municipalities to 356, and from 19 to 11 counties, from 1.1.2020.

1. januarey 2020: 365 municipalities
Credit: KMD

The government initiated a local government reform in 2014. The result is a reduction from 428 municipalities to 356, and from 19 to 11 counties, from 1.1.2020.  

In 2014, a broad majority in the Parliament supported the government’s description of the need for a reform, and the main elements of a reform process. Further, it was decided that also the regional level would be part of the reform process. A part of the reform is also to transfer tasks to the municipal level.

In april 2017 the government proposed a new municipal structure to the Parliament for both municipalities and counties. The parliament voted over this in june 2017.  The result was that 119 municipalities merge into 47 new municipalities.

The parliament has also voted to merge counties with the result of a reduction from 19 to 11 counties.

The main aim of the local government reform is to reduce the number of municipalities.

The goals for the local government reform are:

  • Good, equal services for inhabitants, today and in the future
  • Comprehensive and coordinated community development, in both larger and smaller municipalities
  • Sustainable and financially solid municipalities
  • Strengthen local democracy, and give the municipalities more power

There is also transfer of certain tasks to the municipalities and counties from 1.1.2020.

New counties and municipalitites in Norway

Since 2013, the Norwegian government has implemented a municipal reform and a regional reform that has led to the establishment of a number of new municipalities and counties. As of 1 January 2020, there are 356 municipalities and 11 counties in Norway.

According to Norwegian law and custom, the new municipalities and counties take over all the responsibilies and rights from the old units.

Here is an overview of which previous municipalities and counties the new, merged municipalities and counties consists of. The number specified refers to the municipality or countys number as it appears in statistics and public registers.

New county

Old counties

30 Viken

01 Østfold, 02 Akershus and 06 Buskerud

34 Innlandet

04 Hedmark and 05 Oppland

38 Vestfold og Telemark

07 Vestfold and 08 Telemark

42 Agder

09 Aust-Agder and 10 Vest-Agder

46 Vestland

12 Hordaland and 14 Sogn og Fjordane

50 Trøndelag

16 Sør-Trøndelag and 17 Nord-Trøndelag

54 Troms og Finnmark

19 Troms and 20 Finnmark

New Municipality

Old municipalities

3020 Nordre Follo

0213 Ski and 0217 Oppegård

3025 Asker

0220 Asker, 0627 Røyken and 0628 Hurum

3030 Lillestrøm

0226 Sørum, 0227 Fet and 0231 Skedsmo

3026 Aurskog-Høland

0121 Rømskog and 0221 Aurskog-Høland

3014 Indre Østfold

0122 Trøgstad, 0123 Spydeberg, 0124 Askim, 0125 Eidsberg and 0138 Hobøl

3002 Moss

0104 Moss and 0136 Rygge

3005 Drammen

0602 Drammen, 0625 Nedre Eiker and 0711 Svelvik

3804 Sandefjord[1]

0706 Sandefjord, 0719 Andebu and 0720 Stokke

3805 Larvik[2]

0709 Larvik and 0728 Lardal

3811 Færder

0722 Nøtterøy and 0723 Tjøme

0704 Tønsberg

0704 Tønsberg and og Re

3802 Holmestrand[3]

0702 Holmestrand, 0715 Holmestrand, 0713 Sande and 0714 Hof

3817 Midt-Telemark

0821 Bø and 0822 Sauherad

4225 Lyngdal

1027 Audnedal and 1032 Lyngdal

4204 Kristiansand

1001 Kristiansand, 1017 Songdalen and 1018 Søgne

4205 Lindesnes

1002 Mandal, 1021 Marnardal and 1029 Lindesnes

1103 Stavanger

1103 Stavanger, 1141 Finnøy and 1142 Rennesøy

1108 Sandnes

1102 Sandnes and 1129 Forsand

4626 Øygarden

1245 Sund, 1246 Fjell and 1259 Øygarden

4631 Alver

1256 Meland, 1260 Radøy and 1263 Lindås

4624 Bjørnafjorden

1241 Fusa and 1243 Os

4618 Ullensvang

1227 Jondal, 1228 Odda and 1231 Ullensvang

4621 Voss

1234 Granvin and 1235 Voss

4647 Sunnfjord

1430 Gaular, 1431 Jølster, 1432 Førde and 1433 Naustdal

4640 Sogndal

1418 Balestrand, 1419 Leikanger and 1420 Sogndal

4649 Stad

1441 Selje and 1443 Eid

4602 Kinn

1401 Flora and 1439 Vågsøy

1579 Hustadvika

1548 Fræna and 1551 Eide

1506 Molde

150 Molde, 1543 Nesset and 1545 Midsund

1507 Ålesund

1504 Ålesund, 1523 Ørskog, 1529 Skodje, 1534 Haram and 1546 Sandøy

1578 Fjord

1524 Norddal and 1526 Stordal

1577 Volda

1444 Hornindal and 1519 Volda

5060 Nærøysund

5050 Vikna and 5051 Nærøy

5006 Steinkjer

5004 Steinkjer and 5039 Verran

5007 Namsos

5005 Namsos, 5040 Namdalseid and 5048 Fosnes

5054 Indre Fosen

1624 Rissa and 1718 Leksvik

5057 Ørland

5015 Ørland and 5017 Bjugn

5058 Åfjord

5018 Åfjord and 5019 Roan

5001 Trondheim

5001 Trondheim and 5030 Klæbu

5059 Orkland

5024 Orkdal, 5016 Agdenes, 5023 Meldal and part of 5012 Snillfjord

5056 Hitra

5013 Hitra and part of 5012 Snillfjord

5055 Heim

1571 Halsa, 5011 Hemne and part of 5012 Snillfjord

1806 Narvik

1805 Narvik, 1854 Ballangen and part of 1850 Tysfjord

1875 Hamarøy

1849 Hamarøy and part of 1850 Tysfjord

5421 Senja

1931 Lenvik, 1927 Tranøy, 1929 Berg og 1928 Torsken

5412 Tjeldsund

1852 Tjeldsund and 1913 Skånland

5406 Hammerfest

2004 Hammerfest and 2017 Kvalsund

 

[1] Sandefjord amalgamated from January 1st 2017, but changed number from January 1st 2020 because of changes on the county level.

[2] Larvik amalgamated from January 1st 2018, but changed number from Januar 1st 2020 because of changes on the county level.

[3] 0702 Holmestrand and 0714 Hof amalgamated to 0715 Holmestrand from January 1st 2018. 0715 Holmestrand and 0714 Sande amalgamated to 3802 Holmestrand from January 1st 2020.

 

small changes in the overall structure
Credit: KMD

Proposition to the Storting no. 96 S - Changes in the local government structure (pdf)