4% border traffic growth in 2019

Figures from the Norwegian police show that a total of 266,267 people crossed the border in 2019, a growth of 4,4% year-on-year.

That is the highest number since the economic and political turmoil between Europe and Russia started following Moscow’s annexation of Crimea. Sanctions and counter-sanctions have negatively impacted the value of the Russian ruble and with that cross-border shopping.

In late 2014, the value of the Russian ruble dropped like a stone and so did the number of people crossing the border from the Murmansk region to Norway.

2013 and 2014 were all time high for the number of people crossing the Russian-Norwegian border with 320,000 and 318,000 respectively. 

The Storskog-Borisoglebsk checkpoint is the northernmost landborder between Schengen-Europe and Russia.