Danish immigration levels at all-time high

New figures show that Denmark welcomed a record number of immigrants in the year to the end of the second quarter of 2015.

The latest Statistics Denmark data shows that 69,863 immigrants moved to the country in this period; the highest ever number recorded in any 12-month period.

Although refugees from Syria made up the country’s largest group of newcomers (9,375) nearly six out of 10 on Denmark’s new residents came from western nations. Romania was the second biggest source country for new Danish residents, followed by those from Poland, the US, Germany, Lithuania, India, Norway, Italy and China.

Statistics Denmark’s figures showed that immigrants overwhelming move to Denmark’s largest municipalities. Fifteen municipalities experienced more immigration that the national average of 12.3 immigrants per 1,000 residents. Frederiksberg Municipality took the biggest share, with 27 immigrants per 1,000 residents, followed closely by the City of Copenhagen with 26.

The country’s capital city, Copenhagen, regularly ranks highly in various quality of life surveys. For example, in this year’s Mercer quality of life survey, Copenhagen was rated as having the 8th best lifestyle out of the 230 cities surveys worldwide, while Monocle Magazine ranked Copenhagen tenth in its annual Quality of Life survey.