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Comparison · Denmark

Return migration & Denmark

Denmark made a political paradigm shift in 2015 with stricter asylum policy, return requirements and the ‘paradigm agreement 2019’. What was the outcome — and how does actual emigration from Sweden look?

Sources: Statistics Denmark, Ministry of Immigration and Integration, SCB, Eurostat.

Last updated: View changelog

Fact pageSources checked

Asylum applications DK vs SE

Number of asylum applications per year. Note the 2015 peak and Denmark’s early tightening.

2014

Danmark
14 815
Sverige
81 301
SE/DK
5.5×

2015

Danmark
21 315
Sverige
162 877
SE/DK
7.6×

2016

Danmark
6 266
Sverige
28 939
SE/DK
4.6×

2018

Danmark
3 559
Sverige
21 502
SE/DK
6.0×

2020

Danmark
1 547
Sverige
12 991
SE/DK
8.4×

2022

Danmark
4 613
Sverige
17 416
SE/DK
3.8×

2024

Danmark
2 333
Sverige
6 240
SE/DK
2.7×

2025

Danmark
1 961
Sverige
6 735
SE/DK
3.4×

Danish figures for 2025 per the Danish Immigration Service's annual publication Tal og fakta 2025 (rev. 9 June 2026): 1,961 asylum applications, a 38 percent recognition rate at the Immigration Service, 251 rejected asylum seekers returned, and 42 permits revoked or not extended. Swedish figures are first-time applications from the Migration Agency; Denmark also counts applications from persons who already hold a residence permit, so the comparison is indicative.

Refugee employment after 5/10 years

Danish figures per DST, Swedish per SCB STATIV — definitions are comparable but not identical.

Danmark

After 5 yrs
56 %
After 10 yrs
66 %
Source
Danmarks Statistik 2024

Sverige

After 5 yrs
38 %
After 10 yrs
50 %
Source
SCB STATIV 2024

Registered emigration from Sweden 2024

SCB Population statistics. Share = emigrants as share of residents from the region. Large differences — Nordics and EU citizens emigrate most often.

Nordics

Emigrants 2024
14 200
Share of residents
4.2 %

Other EU

Emigrants 2024
18 400
Share of residents
5.1 %

Europe outside EU

Emigrants 2024
5 300
Share of residents
2.4 %

Asia (incl. Middle East)

Emigrants 2024
8 600
Share of residents
1.6 %

Africa

Emigrants 2024
2 100
Share of residents
0.9 %

Primary sources

The question this page answers

How does Denmark's return and repatriation policy work — what rules and support exist, and what results are actually documented?

At a glance

Key figures — the most important numbers on this page

Repatriation Act enacted

1999

Folketinget — Lov om repatriering (LBK 1023/2019, originally 1999). Regulates financial support for voluntary return migration.

Repatriation grant 2024 (per adult)

≈ DKK 155,000

Ministry of Immigration and Integration — base amount per adult with permanent residence or Danish citizenship. Children receive about half.

Reintegration allowance (up to 5 yrs)

≈ DKK 6,000/mo.

UIM — monthly top-up for persons over 55 who repatriate permanently, on condition that Danish citizenship is renounced.

The 'paradigm shift'

2019

Folketinget — L 140 (2018/19). Official aim that residence permits for protected persons are temporary and that return is the default when the protection need has ceased.

Voluntary repatriates 2015–2023

≈ 2,200

Statistics Denmark / UIM — cumulative use of the Repatriation Act 2015–2023. Annual numbers vary between 100 and 400.

Asylum applications Denmark 2023

≈ 2,400

UIM annual report 2023. Below the EU average per capita and far below Swedish levels in 2015.

Asylum applications Sweden 2023

≈ 16,200

Swedish Migration Agency. About 7 times more than Denmark. The difference reflects policy and volumes since 2015.

Evaluations proving system effect

0

Rigsrevisionen has audited parts of the system. No Swedish or Danish evaluation has yet isolated a system effect of the Repatriation Act on return migration.

What does the data show?

Objective observations — not interpretations

  • The page describes how the Danish system is actually built: a tightening track for asylum and residence permits (the 2019 paradigm shift and a series of subsequent laws) and an incentive track for voluntary repatriation (the Repatriation Act from 1999, updated several times). It is not a single reform but a policy fabric.
  • The Repatriation Act gives Danish citizens and holders of permanent residence a right to a one-off grant, travel costs, transport of belongings, health insurance and a monthly reintegration allowance. A core condition is that the person normally returns Danish citizenship and refrains from returning. Municipalities are responsible for information and case handling.
  • The 2019 paradigm shift formalised that residence permits for protected persons are temporary and that return is the default when the protection need has ceased ('midlertidighed som udgangspunkt'). Individual assessments still apply, but the burden of proof shifted and the paths to permanent residence were tightened.
  • The number of voluntary repatriates via the Repatriation Act is small in absolute terms — in most years a few hundred persons per year. The system mainly targets persons who have already held permanent residence or citizenship for a long time, often of retirement age.
  • Rigsrevisionen's audits of Danish return operations identify system weaknesses in enforcement, coordination and data registers — similar to those the Swedish National Audit Office (RiR 2020:7) has described for Sweden. No evaluation has yet shown that any single Danish reform has had an isolated effect on net return migration.

Method note
Danish policy consists of two parallel tracks: (1) tightened reception and temporary permits (asylum, family reunification, citizenship), (2) incentives for voluntary repatriation via the Repatriation Act. When figures from Danish authorities are compared with Swedish figures, several things must be kept apart: 'return' (afvist or udvist), 'voluntary repatriation' (repatriation under the Act) and 'emigration' (persons registered as emigrated regardless of reason). Statistics Denmark publishes emigration as a population event; UIM publishes use of the Repatriation Act; Rigspolitiet reports forced enforcement. The measures do not overlap. Attributing a trend to 'the effect of the paradigm shift' requires a counterfactual scenario that does not exist in public statistics. Comparisons with Sweden must also take into account that the populations have different compositions, that asylum cohorts arrived at different times, and that labour markets, housing markets and benefit systems differ. Absolute numbers (Sweden has a larger population), shares (per capita) and cohort measures give different pictures.

Definitions

How the numbers are counted — and what they do not cover

Return
Person who leaves the country after a refusal of protection or residence. Can be voluntary, assisted or forced. Regulated by the Aliens Act (SE) and udlændingeloven (DK).
Voluntary return
Departure the person carries out on their own initiative, normally during a voluntary-departure window (2–4 weeks). Responsible authority: Migrationsverket (SE) or Udlændingestyrelsen (DK).
Return migration (repatriation)
Departure of a person who has held residence or citizenship in the host country for a long time. Distinct from 'return', which concerns persons who have received a refusal and must leave the country.
Repatriation grant
Financial support given by the host country for voluntary repatriation. In Denmark regulated by the Repatriation Act. Sweden has a much smaller equivalent under Ordinance (1984:890).
Repatriation
Formal return to the country of origin under organised conditions, usually with state assistance. The term is used more often in Denmark than in Sweden, where 'återvändande' and 'återvandring' are established.
Repatriation Act
Danish law from 1999 (consolidated 2019) giving persons with permanent residence or Danish citizenship a right to financial support for voluntary repatriation to the country of origin.
Reintegration allowance
Monthly top-up for up to five years for persons over 55 who repatriate permanently, on condition of renouncing Danish citizenship. Paid by Udbetaling Danmark.
Enforcement
The actual departure after a final removal decision. Can be voluntary, assisted or forced. In Denmark Hjemrejsestyrelsen has been responsible since 2020.
Expulsion (udvisning)
Removal decision for a person who has held residence (e.g. after criminal conviction) or resided in the country for some time. Danish term: 'udvisning'.
Refusal of entry (afvisning)
Removal decision for a person who has not been granted residence and has not previously resided in the country. Danish term: 'afvisning'.
Return programme
State or inter-state programmes to organise returns — e.g. IOM AVRR, EU's ERRIN programme. Both Sweden and Denmark participate.
Integration policy
Measures for newcomers' establishment in the labour market, education and society. In Denmark shaped by integrationsloven and selvforsørgelses- og hjemrejseydelsen.
Incentive programme
Financial or practical benefits intended to influence a voluntary choice — here: to choose repatriation. Isolating incentive effects from other factors is difficult in the research literature.
Permanent residence
Residence permit without time limit. In Denmark 'permanent opholdstilladelse'; conditions have been tightened since 2015 (language, self-sufficiency, absence of certain crimes).
Citizenship
Legal membership of a state. Danish citizenship requirements include 9 years of legal residence, language test, citizenship test, self-sufficiency and absence of certain crimes.

Primary sources

Agencies and research institutions behind this page

7

agencies/institutions

5

reports & studies

3

primary datasets

Frequently asked questions

Short answers to what is most often discussed

A Danish legislative change in 2019 (L 140) that formalised that residence permits for protected persons are temporary and that return is the default when the protection need has ceased. Individual assessments still apply under EU law and the Geneva Convention.

Related topics

Logical next steps if you want to understand the background

Sources for this page

The data comes from official primary sources.

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Sverigefakta.com. (2026). Sverigefakta. Retrieved 2026-08-15, from https://sverigefakta.com/en/return-migration-denmark
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@misc{sverigefakta_2026_en_returnmigrationdenmark,
  author       = {Sverigefakta.com},
  title        = {Sverigefakta},
  year         = {2026},
  howpublished = {\url{https://sverigefakta.com/en/return-migration-denmark}},
  note         = {Dataset v2026.2, accessed 2026-08-15}
}
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