Denmark among EU countries to receive lowest number of asylum claims

Denmark was one of the countries to receive the lowest number of asylum claims in 2024, the Ministry of Immigration and Integration said in a press statement.

Refugees are most likely to seek asylum in Germany, Belgium, Austria and the Netherlands as well as countries with Mediterranean coastlines, according to Eurostat and national data released by the ministry.

Figures released by the ministry show that Denmark is 20th of the 27 EU member states in terms of the number of asylum seekers per capita it accepted in 2024. That compares with Denmark’s 5th place in 2014.

The Nordic country also received a low number of asylum claims in 2023, when it was 21st on the EU list.

“Denmark has been tightening its immigration rules for many years. I am in no doubt that this has helped to secure record low asylum numbers in recent years,” Immigration Minister Kaare Dybvad Bek said in the statement.

“Our policy of repatriation ensures that rejected asylum seekers cannot just stay and live illegally in Denmark for the rest of their lives. They must go home, and the numbers show that most of them have realised this by now,” he said.

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While relatively few people claim asylum in Denmark, the number of claims which are successful is also low.

Last year saw just 860 asylum requests approved by Danish authorities, the lowest number in recent years with the exception of 2020, when Covid-19 lockdowns halted new arrivals.

The country’s ambitions on restricting refugees and asylum are ongoing. 

Last month saw Denmark and eight other EU states, including Italy and Poland, publish an open letter yesterday urging a rethink of how the European Convention of Human Rights is interpreted, especially on migration.