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Quarter of all Copenhageners are immigrants or their descendants
Christian Wenande
February 20th, 2017
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This article is more than 7 years old.
144,000 people in Danish capital are not Danish of origin
Fastelavn in Nørrebro (photo: BLÅGÅRDEN – Flickr)
Earlier this month it was revealed that immigrants and their descendants were the majority in two Danish neighbourhoods.
Now, new figures from the national statistics keeper Danmarks Statistik on behalf of Berlingske newspaper have revealed that a growing number of citizens in Copenhagen Municipality are immigrants or descendants of immigrants.
In Copenhagen Municipality, 24 percent of the population are immigrants or their descendants – almost twice that of the national average of 13 percent.
Causes problems
Carl Christian Ebbesen, the city’s deputy major for cultural and leisure issues, was not impressed.
“I fear that the number will keep rising and will affect our public schools, where far too many students turn up unable to speak Danish,” the DF politician told Berlingske newspaper.
“It generates lots of integration problems and trouble motivating them to get an education. It’s doesn’t mean that all don’t do well, but there are a lot who don’t.”
READ MORE: Immigrants and their descendants now the majority in two Danish neighbourhoods
Dare to be diverse
The deputy mayor for employment and integration, Anna Mee Allerselv, was less concerned, describing the development as evidence that Copenhagen has become a diverse capital.
“If we want to make it as a small and open economy in a globalised world, we need to be diverse and global,” she said.
The figures showed there were about 450,000 citizens of Danish origin living in the capital, and nearly 144,000 people with an immigrant background.
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