Aftenposten

(; ; stylized as in the masthead) is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation as well as Norway's newspaper of record. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 daily copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen) and estimated 1.2 million readers. It converted from broadsheet to compact format in March 2005. Aftenpostens online edition is at Aftenposten.no.

Aftenposten is a private company wholly owned by the public company Schibsted ASA. Norway's second largest newspaper, VG, is also owned by Schibsted. Norwegian owners held a 42% of the shares in Schibsted at the end of 2015.

The paper has around 240 employees. Trine Eilertsen was appointed editor-in-chief in 2020.

Aftenposten has correspondents based in Kyiv, Brussels, Washington D.C, Moscow and Istanbul (2025).

History and profile

Aftenposten was founded by Christian Schibsted on 14 May 1860 under the name Christiania Adresseblad. The following year, it was renamed Aftenposten. Since 1885, the paper has printed two daily editions. A Sunday edition was published until 1919, and was reintroduced in 1990. The Friday-morning edition carries the A-magasinet supplement, featuring articles on science, politics, and the arts. In 1886, Aftenposten bought a rotary press, being the first Norwegian newspaper in this regard.

Historically, Aftenposten labelled itself as "independent, conservative",

Aftenposten is based in Oslo. In the late 1980s, Egil Sundar served as the editor-in-chief and attempted to transform the paper into a nationally distributed newspaper. However, he was forced to resign from his post due to his attempt.

Aftenposten started its online edition in 1995.

Controversies

Erroneous Nobel Prize announcement (1926)

In November 1926, Aftenposten was so certain about a rumour that Olav Duun was going to be awarded that year's Nobel Prize in Literature that they wrongly announced Duun as the winner of the prize on their front page, which was a publication scandal.

Editorial opposition to the Nobel Peace Prize award to Carl von Ossietzky (1935)

Aftenposten opposed the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to German pacifist Carl von Ossietzky in 1935.

Publication of Knut Hamsun's obituary of Adolf Hitler (1945)

In 1945, Aftenposten published an obituary of Adolf Hitler in which the 86-year-old Nobel-laureate novelist Knut Hamsun referred to Hitler as "a warrior for humankind and a preacher of the gospel of justice for all nations". At that time, Aftenposten was under the censorship of the German occupying forces.

Defamation of Julia Svetlichnaya (2007)

Historically, Aftenposten has not received the same number of lawsuits or as much attention from the Norwegian Press Complaints Commission as some of the larger tabloids. However, there are exceptions. In 2007, Aftenposten alleged that Julia Svetlichnaya, the last person to interview the murdered Russian national Alexander Litvinenko, was a Kremlin agent. London correspondent Hilde Harbo admitted having allowed herself to be fed disinformation emanating from the Russian emigrant community without investigating the matter properly. Aftenposten eventually had to apologize and pay Svetlichnaya's legal costs.

Promotion of conspiracy theories regarding Arne Treholt (2011)

In 2011 the newspaper was criticized by Jon Hustad for publishing conspiracy theories that promoted the false claim that convicted Soviet spy Arne Treholt was innocent, based entirely on a book by convicted fraudster Geir Selvik Malthe-Sørenssen that was revealed to be based on a fabricated source. In a study dated 2016 Aftenposten was found to contain the epithet Negro (Norwegian: neger) at the highest frequency in the period between 1970 and 2014 with 674 references. In 2021, the paper was criticized by the youth organization of the National Association for Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgender People for allegedly publishing articles that promoted transphobic conspiracy theories about trans women.

Depiction of Narendra Modi as a snake charmer (2026)

In May 2026, Aftenposten published a column by staff commentator Frank Rossavik, illustrated by Marvin Halleraker, ahead of Narendra Modi's official visit to Oslo. The accompanying illustration depicted the Prime Minister of India as a snake charmer holding a fuel-pipe in the shape of a serpent, alongside the headline En lur og litt irriterende mann ("A cunning and slightly annoying man"). The cartoon drew criticism from commentators who argued that the imagery is racist and echoed colonial-era Orientalist stereotypes historically used to portray India as exotic and primitive. Critics questioned whether such culturally loaded imagery would have passed editorial scrutiny had it been directed at a different country or community.

Frank was criticized by another columnist, an Indian-origin commentator , who rebuked his coverage as overall 'racist'. While expressing the liberty of cartoonist, she emphasized on taking a more responsible approach against stereotyping. Mala also criticised demanded about accountability from the outlet over this controversy.

Editorial line

Aftenposten had a conservative stance and supported the political party Høyre until the breakdown of party press system in the country.

Circulation

Aftenposten (morning paper)

Numbers from the Norwegian Media Businesses' Association, Mediebedriftenes Landsforening 1980–2009:

1980: 223,925
1981: 227,122
1982: 230,205
1983: 232,459
1984: 233,998
1985: 240,600
1986: 252,093
1987: 260,915
1988: 264,469
1989: 267,278
1990: 265,558
1991: 269,278
1992: 274,870
1993: 278,669
1994: 279,965
1995: 282,018
1996: 283,915
1997: 286,163
1998: 288,078
1999: 284,251
2000: 276,429
2001: 262,632
2002: 263,026
2003: 256,639
2004: 249,861
2005: 252,716
2006: 248,503
2007: 250,179
2008: 247,556
2009: 243,188
2010: 239,831
2011: 235,795
2012: 225,981
2013: 214,026
2014: 221,659
2015: 211,769

Aften (evening paper) - now defunct

Numbers from the Norwegian Media Businesses' Association, Mediebedriftenes Landsforening: 1989–2009:

1939: 78,700
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1989: 193,932
1990: 192,896
1991: 195,022
1992: 197,738
1993: 198,647
1994: 188,544
1995: 186,003
1996: 188,635
1997: 191,269
1998: 186,417
1999: 180,497
2000: 175,783
2001: 167,671
2002: 163,924
2003: 155,366
2004: 148,067
2005: 141,612
2006: 137,141
2007: 131,089
2008: 124,807
2009: 111,566

Aftenposten.no, online newspaper

The online newspaper Aftenposten.no had an average of 827,000 daily readers in 2015, an increase from 620.000 in 2010.