Denmark has experienced a positive migration flow over the past decade. During this period, there was consistently a higher number of immigrants entering the country than emigrants leaving it. Up until 2015, the number of immigrants arriving in Denmark steadily grew. Since then, however, the number of immigrants has decreased. In 2022, a record-high 121,000 people immigrated to Denmark, while around 63,000 people emigrated, meaning that there were almost twice as many immigrants as emigrants that year. The following year, close to 100,000 people immigrated to Denmark.
Tighter immigration laws
The decreasing immigration figures up until 2021 can in part be explained by tighter immigration rules. Since 2015, immigration policies have been strengthened in Denmark. For instance, immigrants are required to work 37 hours a week to qualify for certain social benefits, and the parliament recently passed a legislation making it possible to send asylum seekers to countries outside of the EU while their applications are processed. Despite this tendency, forecasts predict that the number of immigrants will increase and reach 725,000 people in 2029. This is because a high number of immigrants in Denmark come from from other EU countries such as Poland and Germany. As of 2024, nearly 50,000 Danish residents had Polish origins.
Ukrainian refugees driving the number of immigrants
The record-high number of immigrants arriving in Denmark in 2022 was driven by refugees from Ukraine following Russia's invasion of the country in February 2022. Around 6.5 million people have fled Ukraine after the outbreak of the war, and in Denmark, nearly 32,000 of the immigrants that year came from Ukraine. The number of immigrants arriving in the country in 2022 was significantly higher than in 2015, the previous record year, when a high number of Syrian refugees arrived in the country.
Migration flow in Denmark from 2013 to 2023
Characteristic
Immigrants
Emigrants
Net migration
2023
98,344
68,172
30,172
2022
121,183
62,927
58,256
2021
76,278
49,803
26,475
2020
70,340
59,420
10,920
2019
83,918
74,597
9,321
2018
87,329
68,645
18,684
2017
89,382
64,751
24,631
2016
94,365
64,078
30,287
2015
98,872
61,078
37,794
2014
87,563
56,340
31,223
2013
79,218
59,226
19,992
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Data sourced from database "INDVAN: Immigration by sex, age, country of origin and citizenship" and "UDVAN: Emigration by sex, age, country of destination and citizenship".
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Statistics Denmark. (February 12, 2024). Migration flow in Denmark from 2013 to 2023 [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved October 31, 2024, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/575189/migration-flow-in-denmark/
Statistics Denmark. "Migration flow in Denmark from 2013 to 2023." Chart. February 12, 2024. Statista. Accessed October 31, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/575189/migration-flow-in-denmark/
Statistics Denmark. (2024). Migration flow in Denmark from 2013 to 2023. Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: October 31, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/575189/migration-flow-in-denmark/
Statistics Denmark. "Migration Flow in Denmark from 2013 to 2023." Statista, Statista Inc., 12 Feb 2024, https://www.statista.com/statistics/575189/migration-flow-in-denmark/
Statistics Denmark, Migration flow in Denmark from 2013 to 2023 Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/575189/migration-flow-in-denmark/ (last visited October 31, 2024)
Migration flow in Denmark from 2013 to 2023 [Graph], Statistics Denmark, February 12, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/575189/migration-flow-in-denmark/