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Denmark’s immigration and emigration is mostly to and from Western countries

The Local Denmark
The Local Denmark - [email protected]
Denmark’s immigration and emigration is mostly to and from Western countries
Photo: Celina Dahl/Ritzau Scanpix

A publication released by official statistics bureau Statistics Denmark on Wednesday notes that two-thirds of immigration to the Scandinavian country in 2018 was from other Western countries.

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For emigration, the proportion was almost as high, according to the report, which is titled Befolkningens udvikling 2018 (Population Development 2018).

“If you look at the top ten countries for immigration to and emigration from Denmark in 2018, you will find almost exclusively Western countries. The United States is prominent with regard to both immigration and emigration but countries such as Germany, the UK, Romania and Sweden are also highly present,” Lisbeth Harbo, the author of the report, said via a press statement.

“The only two non-Western countries to be found in the top ten list for immigration and emigration are India as a source country for immigration and China as a recipient for emigrants from Denmark,” Harbo continued.

67 percent of immigration to Denmark in 2018 was from Western countries. The United States was the top Western country on the list for both emigration and immigration, according to the publication.

Of people emigrating from Denmark in 2017, 63 percent left for Western countries.

Total immigration to Denmark in 2018 was 87,329 persons, while emigration was 68,645 persons, giving a net immigration of 18,684, the report found.

As such, net immigration is just under 21 percent lower than the average for the past 10 years. The decline is mainly due to increased emigration, Statistics Denmark writes.

The top ten source countries for immigration to Denmark in 2018 were:

  1. United States
  2. Germany
  3. Romania
  4. United Kingdom
  5. Poland
  6. Sweden
  7. Norway
  8. Spain
  9. India
  10. Lithuania

The top ten destinations for emigrants were:

  1. United States
  2. Germany
  3. Sweden
  4. United Kingdom
  5. Norway
  6. Poland
  7. Romania
  8. Spain
  9. China
  10. India

It should be noted that the designation of ‘source country’ means simply that the person moved to Denmark from that country. So someone who moved to Denmark from Germany, for example was not necessarily a German citizen and could in fact have been a Dane returning home, or a third nationality. The same distinction applies to emigrations.

Based on citizenship alone, the top ten nationalities immigrating to Denmark in 2018 were:

  1. Romania
  2. Poland
  3. United States
  4. Germany
  5. India
  6. Lithuania
  7. Ukraine
  8. Italy
  9. United Kingdom
  10. China

The report also includes information on the total number of births and deaths, age distribution and number of marriages and divorces. You can read it in full (in Danish) here.

READ ALSO: Emigration from Denmark increased in 2018, while population continues to grow

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