Immigrants, particularly those from Muslim countries, are vastly overrepresented among recipients of early retirement pensions in Denmark, and it is putting a major strain on the country’s pension system.
In fact, the new data shows that two out of three people (67 percent) over the age of 50 hailing from Muslim countries are taking early retirement, versus only 11 percent for people of Danish origin.
Immigrants from Iraq who are over 50 are most likely to take an early retirement, which stands at 65 percent, but those from Lebanon, Turkey, Somalia, Algerian, and Afghanistan also top the list, according to the report from Danish newspaper Berlingske.
When people from these countries are analyzed between the working ages of 18 and 67, then these six countries feature numbers of early retirees in the range of 15 to 29 percent. For people of Danish origin, this is only 6.6 percent.
“We cannot sit idly by on this. While 6.6 percent of citizens with Danish ancestry are on early retirement, the proportion is significantly higher among several population groups with another nationality,” wrote Danish MP Sólbjørg Jakobsen, who also serves as the rapporteur for employment, equality, and the Faroe Islands.
Employment Minister Ane Halsboe-Jørgensen (Social Democratic Party) said in response to the figures that “early pension is a lifelong benefit that many have struggled to achieve. That’s why we also have to be politically lenient.”
However, she said she would keep an eye on how the situation develops. A number of other parties, such as the Danish Folk’s Party and the Liberal Alliance are calling for ministers to rethink early retirement in light of the new data.
In May, it was announced by the governing party Venstre that they wanted to reassess the social benefits distributed to non-Western immigrants, “so that more people can get a job.”
The Social Democrats’ political spokesman, Christian Rabjerg Madsen, said at the time that his government was willing to discuss the issue but said it is important that sick citizens do not fear losing their early retirement pension.
Denmark has some of the most generous social benefits in the world. Those on its retirement plan can earn nearly as much every year as they did in their previous job.
In a famed article from 2021 entitled “Why have Danes turned on migration?” The Economist wrote that migrants are draining the country’s social welfare system.
“In October the finance ministry, in its annual report on the issue, estimated that in 2018 immigrants from non-Western countries and their descendants drained from public finances a net 31 billion kroner ($4.9bn), some 1.4 percent of GDP. Immigrants from Western countries, by contrast, contributed a net 7 billion kroner,” wrote The Economist.
The magazine further wrote that “Muslims are at the core of the issue. This year was the first time the ministry reported separately on the contributions by people from 24 Muslim countries. They account for 50 percent of the non-Westerners, but 77 percent of the drain. Alongside that worry are fears that Muslims bring notions about democracy and the role of women that Danes find threatening.”
The situation is not much better in other countries. In Germany, for example, 65 percent of recipients of welfare are either foreigners or those of foreign origin. In 2025, this may cost between €20 billion and €25 billion.
