Immigrants and their descendants
How many immigrants live in Denmark? From which countries do immigrants come? The statistics on immigrants and their descendants cover persons with an officially listed address in Denmark. Data on immigrants and their descendants can be disaggregated by municipality, sex, age and country of origin.
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A person who is born abroad, and where neither parent is both a Danish citizen and born in Denmark. If there is no information about either parent and the person is born abroad, they are registered as an immigrant.
A person who is born in Denmark, and where neither parent is both a Danish citizen and born in Denmark. If there is no information about either parent and the person is a foreign national, they are also considered a descendant. If at least one parent is born in Denmark and acquires Danish citizenship, the person will subsequently be registered as being of Danish origin.
A grouping of the population into three categories: Immigrants, descendants, and persons of Danish origin. These three groups can be further divided into persons of Danish origin, immigrants from Western countries, immigrants from non-Western countries, descendants from Western countries, and descendants from non-Western countries.
The country where a person's parents were born or hold citizenship. If no information is available about either parent, the person's own country of birth or citizenship is used. An immigrant or descendant will always have a country of origin different from Denmark. A person of Danish origin will always have Denmark as their country of origin.
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 Immigrants and their descendants
Development in the share of immigrants and their descendants
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.
Immigrants disaggregated by basis of right of residence
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.
Immigrants and their descendants disaggregated by country of origin
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 statistics cover the people’s relation to the national church. Furthermore it accounts for the number of different religious ceremonies, among other baptisms, confirmations and funerals.
The production of statistics on the national church was introduced in 1974. There have not been produced statistics on the national church for the years 2003-2006. For the years 1984-2002 statistics on recognized religious communities, their members and religious ceremonies corresponding to the religious ceremonies of the national church was also produced.
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.
Concepts of origin in Statistics Denmark
Western and non-western countries