Migration covers EU migration and asylum policy, border management and Schengen, visas and legal pathways, asylum procedures and reception, returns and readmission, integration, anti-trafficking, search-and-rescue, and the external dimension with partner countries. Reporting includes legislation, court rulings, data trends and operational developments involving the Pact on Migration and Asylum, Frontex and national authorities.
Denmark is set to record one of its lowest annual totals for asylum residence permits after government figures showed that 839 permits were issued in the first 11 months of 2025, with ministers arguing that tighter controls have reduced the number of arrivals.
In a statement published on 10 January, Denmark’s Ministry of Immigration and Integration said 48 asylum permits were granted in November 2025, taking the cumulative total for January–November to 839. The ministry added that there have been “very few” years when the annual total stayed below 1,000, and said the latest figures pointed to 2025 ending with a “historically” low number of permits on asylum grounds.
The same government release contrasted the current level with the peak during the 2015 refugee crisis, when it said Denmark issued 10,849 asylum-related residence permits. The ministry’s historical table lists 859 asylum-related permits in 2024.
The figures cited on 10 January do not yet cover December 2025. Denmark’s Immigration Service (Udlændingestyrelsen) says the “latest figures” are updated monthly and that the December 2025 release is scheduled for week 3 of 2026.
Applications and approvals
By the end of November 2025, Denmark had registered 1,835 asylum applications, according to reporting based on government data.
The ministry’s 10 January statement included comments from Immigration and Integration Minister Rasmus Stoklund, who said it was “crucial” that as few foreign nationals as possible came to Denmark and obtained asylum, and that limiting inflows was a “main priority”.
Denmark’s asylum numbers have been falling over a period in which successive governments have tightened rules on residence, family reunification and citizenship, and have framed migration policy as part of a wider effort to reduce irregular arrivals.
Quota refugees and voluntary returns
Denmark’s low asylum totals sit alongside other channels of humanitarian admission. In a separate ministry announcement dated 19 December 2025, the government said it had decided that Denmark would again accept 200 quota refugees under the UN resettlement framework for 2025, with a focus on women and children. The ministry said the group would include refugees from camps in Rwanda, as well as Eritrean and Afghan refugees in neighbouring countries.
The government has also highlighted departures from Denmark under its repatriation support scheme. In a 20 December 2025 update, the ministry said that by the end of November 2025, 711 people of all nationalities had left Denmark voluntarily with financial support under the repatriation law, including 580 registered as departing for Syria.
Denmark and EU-level policy
Copenhagen has argued for changes that would allow more asylum processing to take place outside Europe. In a 18 December 2025 ministry update, Denmark said the European Parliament and the Council had reached a political agreement aimed at removing legal barriers to agreements with “safe third countries” to process asylum claims outside Europe, and also referred to work on a common EU list of “safe countries of origin”.
Separately, the Council of the EU said on 8 December 2025 that member states had agreed positions on proposals concerning an EU list of safe countries of origin and rules on safe third countries, as part of wider asylum policy reforms.
Denmark is not bound by all EU justice and home affairs measures due to opt-outs, but has sought to shape EU debate on returns, external processing and faster procedures, according to its own statements.
Nordic and Baltic comparisons
Denmark’s numbers were published against a backdrop of similar trends elsewhere in northern Europe. Sweden’s government said on 9 January that asylum applications fell by around 30 per cent in 2025 to the lowest level since 1985. Reuters reported 6,735 asylum applications in 2025, down from 9,645 in 2024, and said the government planned further tightening measures in 2026 ahead of a general election in September. Sweden’s public broadcaster reported a drop from about 9,600 to around 6,700.
In Lithuania, the newly appointed head of the Migration Department, Indrė Gasperė, said tighter rules were needed to improve control of immigration procedures and prevent the exploitation of legal loopholes, while indicating the focus was on better management rather than cutting overall migrant numbers.
Ministers back wider use of ‘safe country’ concept in EU migration overhaul
