Photo: Berit Keilen / NTB scanpix

Nearly three-quarters of people in Norway do not want to join the European Union, a poll has shown.

Twenty years after the last ballot on membership of the EU, the majority who would vote “no” is bigger than ever. A convincing 74 percent say “no”, says the latest research.

The poll conducted by Sentio for the newspapers Nationen and Klassekampen found only 16.8 percent of those polled were for membership, while 9.2 percent answered “don't know” to the question of whether Norway should become a member of the 28-member bloc.

During the last referendum on the issue in 1994, 52.2 percent voted no. In the 1972 vote on joining what was then the EEC, opponents won with 53.5 percent of the vote.

Sentio had to go back to 2005 to find a “yes” majority on their EU membership polls.

If the trend continues for another six months, then the “no” majority will have stood continuously for ten years in Norway.