Immigration and emigration
How many immigrate into Denmark each year? From which countries do immigrants come? The statistics on immigration and emigration include everyone moving from an address abroad to Denmark or vice versa. Immigration and emigration can be broken down by e.g. municipality, sex, age and citizenship.
Explainer on…
A person's status as entitled and obligated in relation to a state. Citizenship is either acquired at birth or granted by law.
Selected statistics on Immigration and emigration
Development in immigration numbers into Denmark
The primary source of the statistics is the Civil Registration System (CPR). The continuous updating of the Civil Registration System is thus the basis of the population statistics. The updating takes place in the individual municipalities as the municipal population changes because of births and deaths, migrations in and out of the municipality and changes in marital status for the citizens of the municipality. The Civil Registration System is a central system with a common database where all registrations are updated. The state makes the system available to the individual municipalities. The Danish Health Data Authority’s Birth Register and Cause of Death Register are the secondary sources providing data on births and deaths respectively.
Development in emigration numbers from Denmark
The primary source of the statistics is the Civil Registration System (CPR). The continuous updating of the Civil Registration System is thus the basis of the population statistics. The updating takes place in the individual municipalities as the municipal population changes because of births and deaths, migrations in and out of the municipality and changes in marital status for the citizens of the municipality. The Civil Registration System is a central system with a common database where all registrations are updated. The state makes the system available to the individual municipalities. The Danish Health Data Authority’s Birth Register and Cause of Death Register are the secondary sources providing data on births and deaths respectively.
Immigration into Denmark - where are they from?
The primary source of the statistics is the Civil Registration System (CPR). The continuous updating of the Civil Registration System is thus the basis of the population statistics. The updating takes place in the individual municipalities as the municipal population changes because of births and deaths, migrations in and out of the municipality and changes in marital status for the citizens of the municipality. The Civil Registration System is a central system with a common database where all registrations are updated. The state makes the system available to the individual municipalities. The Danish Health Data Authority’s Birth Register and Cause of Death Register are the secondary sources providing data on births and deaths respectively.
On the statistics – documentation, sources and method
See the documentation of statistics to learn more:
The statistics show the number of asylum seekers and the number of residence permits granted.
The statistics were first published in 1989. The information on asylum seekers and refugees goes back to 1984, but there is only information on residence permits (other than refugees) from 1988.
From 1997 there is information about residence permits on individual level for each immigrated person with citizenship outside Denmark and the Nordic countries.
The purpose of the population statistics is to focus on the size, composition and development of the population living in Denmark. The statistics create a basis for a number of analyses on demography and society and are used as a basis for planning tasks on a national, regional and municipal level. In their basic form, the statistics have been compiled since 1769 but have undergone a series of changes as society developed and legislation followed. Most of the present table series in Statbank Denmark comprise data from 2007 and forward, while a few of these go back further.