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WORK PERMITS

Denmark issued 40 percent more non-EU work permits in 2022

Denmark issued over 21,000 work permits to non-EU nationals in 2022, an increase of over 40 percent compared to the previous year.

Denmark issued 40 percent more non-EU work permits in 2022
The number of work permits issued by Denmark was up last year. Photo by Andreas Dress on Unsplash

Preliminary figures issued by the Ministry of Immigration and Integration show that the number of work permits issued to non-EU nationals in 2022 was 21,553.

That represents an increase of more than 40 percent compared to 2021, when 15,167 permits were issued.

The number of work permits issued by Denmark has seen steady growth over the last four years, according to ministry figures.

In 2019, some 13,713 work permits were issued to non-EU citizens. The number dropped during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic to 10,333 in 2020 before rising significantly in 2021 and 2022.

For work permits issued to EU nationals under the EU’s free movement rules, the numbers tell a similar story. Numbers released by the ministry show 18,578 such permits released in 2019, falling to 15,681 in 2020.

EU nationals were given 22,080 and 25,842 Danish work permits in 2021 and 2022 respectively.

It should be noted the British nationals would be registered under the EU category in 2019 and 2020 and the non-EU category in 2021 and 2022.

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“In a time with low unemployment it’s hugely positive that so many foreigners are choosing Denmark and contributing to our labour market,” Minister for Immigration and Integration Kaare Dybvad Bek said in a statement.

“That’s a huge benefit for Denmark and the Danish economy. We currently need hands in both the public and private sectors and the many people who come here through business [permit] schemes contribute to growth and better service,” he said.

“I am very pleased we are doing well on attracting labour from outside while also having rules that take good care of Danish wage earners,” he said.

Despite the growth in permits and Bek’s positive view of them, businesses have called for more to be done to increase foreign labour and there is also some demand in the opposition.

The Confederation of Danish Industry said in August that Danish businesses are finding it harder than ever to recruit staff and could hire 38,000 new workers immediately if they were available.

The Social Liberals, a centre-left opposition party, in November said it wants Denmark to increase its foreign workforce.

“It is still far too difficult for Denmark’s businesses to bring foreign labour to Denmark. There are trip wires everywhere, and we have a whole catalogue of proposals,” Social Liberal leader Martin Lidegaard said at the time.

In its coalition policy agreement, the government, formed in December, said that it would “relax access to foreign labour for as long as unemployment is low.”

READ ALSO: What do we know about Denmark’s plans to relax work permit rules?

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ECONOMY

’Record number’ of foreigners move to Denmark for work

A record number of people moved to Denmark from abroad for work reasons in 2022, according to national agency Statistics Denmark.

’Record number’ of foreigners move to Denmark for work

A total of 31,600 people moved to Denmark to work last yer, according to a Statistics Denmark review released on Tuesday.

The figure corresponds to a 24 percent increase compared to 2021 and is the highest in the history of the statistic, which goes back to 1997.

The average number of work immigrants in the decade prior to 2022 was 21,000 people.

Specifically, the number describes the amount of people who were given work permits in Denmark in a given year.

The fact that the statistic has reached a historical high is remarkable, according to an economist.

“In a time with a major labour shortage, Danish businesses have succeeded in recruiting labour from abroad. That is a big success story, which certainly ensures growth and stability in the Danish economy in the period after the coronavirus pandemic,” senior economist Tore Stramer of the Danish Chamber of Commerce told news wire Ritzau.

“The large inflow of foreign labour has held of a threatening overheating of the labour market and ensured stable high growth in the economy,” he said.

READ ALSO: Danish parliament set to vote through relaxed work permit rules

Broken down by nationality, the largest proportion of people moving to Denmark to work came from EU countries in Eastern Europe.

Some 6,000 Romanian nationals were granted Danish work permits in 2022, with 3,700 coming from Poland.

Employment levels in Denmark continue to set records, confounding an uncertain economic outlook and high inflation.

READ ALSO: Danish economy defies headwinds to grow by 3.6 percent

Foreign labour is a driving factor for high employment levels, Stramer said.

“The large inflow of foreign labour has been the absolute primary factor behind the strong rise in employment in recent years,” he said.

“Specifically, foreign labour has driven around 40 percent of the overall increase in employment over the last three years,” he said.

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