Explore the Migration in Denmark
In today’s post, we’ll take a look at what both immigration to Denmark and emigration from Denmark looked like between 2015 and 2023, taking into account people aged 0-80 and EU/EEA countries. We found it interesting to find out in which countries, Denmark was most often chosen to anchor, and where Danish residents left in favor of another country during this period. Like last time, below we have provided some visualizations that make it easier to catch the curious insights and patterns. We invite you to read this post!
Dataset Used
We used two public datasets from Statistics Denmark that provide us with knowledge about the number of people who have immigrated to Denmark and emigrated from Denmark. The data present the respective counts of immigrants and emigrants for each year between 2015 and 2023, categorized by gender, age, country of origin/destination, and citizenship. Let us once again remark that we are focusing on people aged 0-80 and countries within the EU/EEA zone. The dataset on immigration can be accessed at this link and the dataset on emigration at this link.
Initial Overview on Migration (2015-2023)
In the interactive visualization above, you can see how immigration and emigration in general looked like over these 9 years. Additionally, you can explore the balance of the ratio of immigration to emigration over this time.
In the case of immigration, you can see that in total the largest number of people arrived in Denmark in 2022 was just under 52,000, while the smallest number arrived in 2020 was just over 38,000. In contrast, the largest number of people in total emigrated from Denmark in 2018, more than 31,000, and the smallest in 2021, a little over 25,000.
In the case of the ratio of immigrants to emigrants, you can see that the ratio of the largest number of immigrants to the smallest number of emigrants took place in 2022 (more than 22,000 migrants “on the plus side”), and the ratio of the smallest number of immigrants to the largest number of emigrants in 2019 (just under 11,000 migrants “on the plus side”).
Share of Top 15 Countries in Migration
The visualization above shows the top 15 countries from which people immigrated to Denmark and the top 15 countries to which people emigrated from Denmark between 2015 and 2023. Interestingly, the countries to which immigration from Denmark is most frequent are also the ones to which emigration from Denmark takes place.
In the case of immigration, the most top six countries from which people arrived in Denmark are Germany, Romania, Poland, Sweden, Norway, and Spain. In the case of emigration, the most top six countries to which people left Denmark are Germany, Sweden, Norway, Poland, Romania, and Spain.
The third bar chart takes into account these 15 countries and sheds light on their immigration-to-emigration ratio, to understand for which countries individuals arriving from there to Denmark after 2015 were more inclined to stay at least until 2023.
Therefore, the top 6 countries from which newcomers arriving in Denmark after 2015 were most willing to stay in the country at least until 2023, compared to those leaving, are Romania, Poland, Germany, Italy, Bulgaria, and Spain.
Track Immigration and Emigration for the Top 15 Countries
Above, you can track the trends in the number of immigrants and emigrants of countries over these 9 years, which respectively had the highest shares in immigration and emigration.
Regarding immigration, on the graph, you can see that for most countries, there was a decrease in arrivals to Denmark during the period of 2018-2020, which was likely due to the difficulties in crossing borders caused by the coronavirus. Conversely, from 2020 to 2022, there was a trend of growth among countries, presumably resulting from the normalization of the COVID-19 situation.
As for emigration, from 2019 to 2021, there was a decreasing trend in emigrating from Denmark, while from 2021 to 2023, for most countries, there was an upward trend in emigrating from Denmark. These trends probably also result respectively from the pandemic situation and its easing over time.
Gender Trends in Immigration and Emigration
The total numbers of immigration and emigration have been regular between each year with small fluctuations. However, diving into and understanding why the number of immigrants was higher in 2022 than the other years is due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Around 6.5 million ukrainians have fled after the invasion, where nearly 32000 came to Denmark1. Additionally, there was an increase in the number of female immigrants in 2022. This was primarily due to the fact that the majority of those fleeing Ukraine were women and children, as men were required to serve their country according to Ukraine’s martial law2.
Furthermore, there has been a slight decrease in immigration from 2015 to 2020. This can be attributed to the tightening of immigration regulations during that period. If you have more interest in exploring the danish immigration law, you can you access it via this link. However, forecasts predict that the total number of immigrants will increase to 724989 by 2029, with around 0.72 million immigrants residing in Denmark3.
The emigration trend by gender is showcasing no significant increases or decreases. However, since 2015 to 2019 the amount of emigrants have increased, where it subsequently decreased due to the covid-19 pandemic. In 2022 the emigration increased again, which can be explained by emigration of Ukrainians4.
Age Group Patterns in Immigration and Emigration
From 2015 to 2023, people aged 20-29 years formed the biggest group of immigrants in Denmark. The second biggest group were people aged 30-39 years. This pattern can be explained, where individuals seek to Denmark for opportunities such as education, employment, and career advancement. As Denmark is shouting at skilled workers, these individuals are driven by the socioeconomic factors, where Denmark has a strong economy with good qualities that strengthen the attractiveness of this country.
The pattern for emigration is the same showcasing the age group 20-29 as the biggest group and 30-39 as the second biggest group. Like the immigration trends these individuals often are in significant transition phases of their lives and might consider opportunities abroad to strengthen their personal and professional development. Sometimes, emigration also happens because of political terms, where you can read an interesting post about why a danish student named Anna Caroline Nørregaard chose to emigrate via this link if interested.
Now, let’s delve further into the top 5 original countries of immigrants and the top 5 destinations of emigrants.
Age Groups: Top 5 Immigrant Origins & Emigrant Destinations
Among the largest age group (20-29), Germany and Romania emerge as the two primary origin countries. Germany accounts for over 25000 individuals, while Romania contributes just over 20000 individuals. Furthermore, the second largest age group (30-39) are Romania and Poland the two primary origin countries, where they both account for around 11500-13500 individuals.
Among the largest age group (20-29), Germany and Norway emerge as the two primary destinations. Germany accounts for over 20000 emigrants, while Norway emigrates with around 17000 individuals. Furthermore, the second largest age group (30-39) are Sweden and Poland the two primary destinations, where they both account for around 7500-8500 emigrants.
The overview of the countries contributing the most to the Danish immigration and emigration system sheds light on the dynamics of population movement. These insights are valuable for policymakers, enabling them to formulate effective and efficient immigration policies.
Conclusion
In today’s exploration, we’ve delved into the trends of migration from Denmark between 2015 and 2023, focusing on individuals aged 0-80 within the EU/EAA countries. Uncovering the most frequently country of origin of immigrants and those preferred by danish residents leaver for other destinations, we offer visualizations that capture intriguing insights and patterns.
Utilizing public datasets from Statistics Denmark, it unveils actual and reliable view of immigration and emigration patterns, categorized by gender, age, and country of origin/destination. These visualizations presented above offer a glimpse into the ebb and flow of migration over the past nine years, highlighting the trends of fluctuations.
Gender-wise, we observed a significant increase in female immigrants in 2022, which is attributed to Ukraine’s conflict with Russia, which has displaces millions to protect themselves and their family. In the other hand, the number of emigrants had fluctuations that were influenced by factors such as the covid-19 pandemic and politics. Among the age groups, individuals aged 20-29 constituted the largest groups of both immigrants and emigrants, which potentially is driven by opportunities for education, employment, socio-economic status, and personal growth.
Our analysis uncover the dynamics shaping migration trends and emphasizes the importance of understanding these movements for policymakers.