Demographics of Denmark

The natural growth of the population (births minus deaths) was negative in 2022, that is, minus 1005 people. The last time there was a negative natural increase in the population was in 1988. During 2022, 58,430 children were born, 5,043 fewer than in 2021. In 2022, 59,435 people died, there were 2,283, or 4.0% more than in 2021. The total population in the age group 80 and over grew by 12,844 people, or 4.4%., from 2022 to 2023.[7]

During 2022, the Danish population grew by 59,234 people, so the population on January 1, 2023 consisted of 5,932,654 people. It was a population increase of 1.0 percent, which is higher than in 2021, when the population increase was 0.6 percent.[7]

In 2022, it is the first time in history that immigrant women from non-Western countries now have fewer children on average than women of Danish roots in Denmark. On average, immigrant women have 1.76 children, the descendants have an average of 1.75 children, while women of Danish roots have 1.78 children.[8] This is because Ukrainians, who are categorized as non-Western, have come to Denmark in large numbers.

In the same year, immigrant women from Syria had the highest TFR in Denmark, they give birth to an average of 3.7 children. They are followed by women from Somalia and Pakistan, 2020 figures show.[8]

Denmark had a total fertility rate of 1.55 children per woman in 2022.[9]

In 2021 the number of childless women in their 50s is the highest in seven years; 12.3 percent of women at that age have never had a child, while the 19.5 percent of 50-year-old men do not have children.[10]

TFR of Denmark overtime to 2016

The total fertility rate is the number of children born per woman. It is based on fairly good data for the entire period. Sources: Our World In Data and Gapminder Foundation.[11]

Total fertility rate

1.78 children born/woman (2018 est.) Country comparison to the world: 152nd

In 2021 the average age of the mother at her first birth in Denmark was of 31.4 years, and the father is of 31.5 years.[10]

Sources: Our World In Data and the United Nations.

1775–1950

Life expectancy in Denmark since 1775

1950–2015

Life expectancy in Denmark since 1960 by gender

Population pyramid from 1950 to 2020

0-14 years: 16.57% (male 493,829 /female 468,548)

15-24 years: 12.67% (male 377,094 /female 358,807)

25-54 years: 39.03% (male 1,147,196 /female 1,119,967)

55-64 years: 12.33% (male 356,860 /female 359,264)

65 years and over: 19.42% (male 518,200 /female 609,737) (2018 est.)

Median age

total: 41.9 years. Country comparison to the world: 35th

male: 40.8 years

female: 42.9 years (2018 est.)

Ethnic minorities in Denmark include a handful of groups:

• Approximately 15,000 people[14] in Denmark belong to a German minority traditionally referred to as hjemmetyskere meaning "domestic Germans" in Danish, and as Nordschleswiger in German. This minority of Germans hold Danish citizenship and self-identify as Germans. Many of them speak German or Low German as their home language. There are also several thousand German citizens and other ethnic Germans residing in Denmark with no historical connection to this group.
• An estimated 23,000 people[15] in Denmark proper are ethnic Faroese, while 19,000 Greenlanders reside permanently in Denmark.[16] Many of these use the Faroese and Greenlandic languages, respectively, as their first language. All residents of the Kingdom (viz. Denmark proper, the Faroe Islands and Greenland) holds Danish citizenship, unless they inherit or otherwise receive a foreign citizenship.
• The Danish Jews number around 6,000 in 2020 according to the organisation Jewish Community in Denmark, around 1,700 being card-carrying members of the organisation.[17]
• There are close to 10,000 Roma in Denmark.[18]

Population pyramid of Denmark by origin group in 2023

Danish and foreign born population pyramid in 2023

In the modern minorities, Statistics Denmark counts first-generation immigrants, second-generation (Descendants in Danish statistics classification) and third-generation (Children of descendants in Danish classification). Children of descendants can be either of "Danish origin" (if both of their parents were born in Denmark with Danish citizenship) and of "foreign origin" (if one of their parents is a second-generation immigrant and another first-generation). Therefore, this table included all people of the respective background, people who are classified as of "foreign background" and third-generation immigrants, who classified as of "Danish origin".[19] Statistics Denmark denotes an immigrant's group based on their country of birth, it does this usually off of the immigrant or descendents parents, if only one such parent is known, then the group is determined by that or if no parents are known then it is assumed if the person is a immigrant that their country of origin is their country of birth.[19]

Statistics Denmark also has specific classification bands which it uses to separate different immigrant groups. As an example, for 'Western' immigrants and 'Non-western', the classification band is as follows:

• Western countries: All 28 EU countries and Andorra, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway, San Marino, Switzerland, Vatican State, Canada, USA, Australia and New Zealand.
• Non-western countries; All other countries.

According to 2021 figures from Statistics Denmark, 86%[20][21] of Denmark's population of over 5,840,045 was of Danish descent.[22][20] The remaining 14% were of a foreign background, defined as immigrants or descendants of recent immigrants. With the same definition, the most common countries of origin were Turkey, Poland, Germany, Iraq, Romania, Syria, Somalia, Iran, Afghanistan, and Yugoslavia and its successor states. More than 817,438 individuals (14%)[20][21] are migrants and their descendants (199,668 second generation migrants born in Denmark[21]).

Of these 817,438[20] immigrants and their descendants:

• 294,798 (36.1%)[21] have a Western background (Norway, Germany, Bosnia and Herzegovina, UK, Poland, Romania and Iceland; definition: EU countries, non-EU Nordic countries, Andorra, Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino, Switzerland, Vatican State, Canada, USA, Australia and New Zealand).
• 522,640 (63.9%)[21] have a non-Western background (Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Thailand and Somalia; all other countries).

There were 121,183 immigrants in 2022, of these 31,381 were Ukrainian citizens, people with Ukrainian citizenship accounted for 26 percent of all immigration.[7] The total population of Denmark increased in 2022 by 59,234 people, and the net immigration of Ukrainian people amounted to 45 percent of this population growth.[7]

Rank	Country of origin[23]	Population (2008)	Population (2021)[24]	Population (2023)
1.	Turkey	59,960	75,072	77,845
2.	Poland	21,118	49,369	55,122
3.	Syria	3,367	44,326	45,000
4.	Romania	3,681	34,997	44,221
5.	Ukraine	5,105	15,595	42,482
6.	Germany	28,412	35,141	39,528
7.	Iraq	28,417	34,217	35,101
8.	Pakistan	21,217	31,175	32,246
9.	Lebanon	23,343	30,435	31,700
10.	Iran	14,773	22,408	24,364
11.	Bosnia and Herzegovina	21,861	23,449	23,625
12.	Somalia	16,561	21,338	21,486
13.	Afghanistan	11,880	19,957	21,380
14.	India	5,666	15,595	19,296
15.	United Kingdom	12,593	17,651	18,190
16.	Sweden	14,789	17,095	17,726
17.	Norway	15,747	17,481	17,691
18.	Vietnam	13,459	16,307	16,906
19.	Lithuania	3,646	15,231	16,439
20.	China	8,574	14,841	15,836
21.	former  Yugoslavia	18,151	15,903	15,356
22.	Morocco	9,808	13,170	13,708
23.	Thailand	8,280	13,166	13,693
24.	Bulgaria	1,194	-	13,503
25.	Philippines	7,199	-	12,760
26.	Sri Lanka	10,494	-	12,692
27.	Italy	3,994	-	11,684
28.	USA	7,151	-	10,786
29.	Russia	4,389	-	9,517
30.	Iceland	8,421	-	9,513
31.	Netherlands	6,221	-	8,974
32.	Spain	3,286	-	8,862
33.	France	4,685	-	8,434
34.	Eritrea	319	-	8,434
35.	North Macedonia	3,481	-	7,235
36.	Nepal	675	-	6,931
37.	Hungary	2,174	-	6,843
38.	Latvia	1,673	-	6,762
39.	Brazil	2,115	-	5,608
40.	Argentina	1,019	-	5,236
41.	Greece	1,051	-	4,450
42.	Finland	3,698	-	4,172
43.	Kosovo	-	-	4,124
44.	Portugal	937	-	3,974
45.	Slovakia	534	-	3,549
46.	Croatia	854	-	3,464

Population groups	Year
	1981[25]		1991[25]		2001[25]		2011[25]		2021[25]
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
Danish descent	4,968,337	96.96%	4,920,267	95.6%	4,953,265	92.59%	4,998,111	89.88%	5,022,607	86%
Immigrants	136,229	2.65%	189,649	3.68%	308,674	5.77%	428,904	7.71%	617,770	10.57%
EU-27	59,808	1.16%	61,279	1.19%	74,565	1.39%	124,092	2.23%	205,731	3.52%
Europe outside EU-27	45,148	0.88%	55,797	1.08%	98,042	1.83%	116,300	2.09%	131,189	2.24%
Africa	5,033	–	9,710	0.18%	28,190	0.52%	33,135	0.59%	46,376	0.79%
North America	6,312	–	6,525	–	7,008	–	9,068	0.16%	10,890	0.18%
South and Central America	2,987	–	4,263	–	6,248	–	9,826	0.17%	17,430	0.29%
Asia	16,200	0.31%	50,556	0.98%	91,731	1.71%	133,261	2.39%	202,625	3.46%
Oceania	571	–	811	–	1,314	–	2,277	–	2,905	–
Stateless	9	–	373	–	367	–	480	–	352	–
Unknown	170	–	335	–	1,209	–	465	–	272	–
Descendants	19,423	0.37%	36,553	0.71%	87,273	1.63%	133,613	2.40%	199,668	3.41%
EU-27	6,763	0.13%	6,949	0.13%	9,679	0.18%	13,097	0.23%	28,273	0.48%
Europe outside EU-27	6,831	0.13%	15,302	0.29%	32,237	0.60%	46,291	0.83%	59,309	1.01%
Africa	895	–	2,414	–	10,258	0.19%	16,608	0.29%	25,188	0.43%
North America	985	–	926	–	1,004	–	929	–	1,029	–
South and Central America	275	–	363	–	605	–	902	–	1,571	–
Asia	3,535	–	10,420	0.20%	33,045	0.61%	55,260	0.99%	83,815	1.43%
Oceania	93	–	88	–	129	–	149	–	196	–
Stateless	29	–	56	–	109	–	237	–	154	–
Unknown	17	–	35	–	207	–	140	–	133	–
Total	5,123,989	100%	5,146,469	100%	5,349,212	100%	5,560,628	100%	5,840,045	100%

• Population pyramids of selected origin groups in 2023
• 
  Persons of Danish origin
• 
  Western immigrant
• 
  Non-Western immigrant
• 
  Western descendant
• 
  Non-Western descendant