They moved abroad because of the adventure: How would it be to live and work somewhere else? They are mostly well educated and thought it might strengthen their skills and give them better future job possibilities. Some got higher wages in their new jobs abroad. But first and foremost they all got more spending power because of lower taxes in their new home country.
Nine out of ten Danes living abroad today fits this description.
What may come as a surprise to some Danes in Denmark is, that every third of them have since decided never to return to Denmark.
Another third have not made up their mind. If they decide to stay away, the tax burden in Denmark will be their the main reason. Among those who already have made up their mind not to return, eight out of ten have done so because of the lower personal taxes in their new home country.
The rest will definitely return.
This is the conclusions of the first ever survey among Danish expatriates why these Danish citizens moved abroad in the first place – and why some of them will now not come back. It was conducted by the Confederation of Danish Industries from April to May 2003 and although the survey took almost an hour to fill in, more than 2,000 Danes working abroad took the trouble.
Below are some more statistics from the survey.
• The target group of the questionnaire were Danish expatriates who, have worked more than one year abroad and still reside abroad.
• The survey shows that primarily younger and well-educated Danes emigrate. The Danish expatriates is in average 27 years when moving abroad in order to work for the first time. Very few (11 pct.) move abroad for the first time after reaching the age of 35.
• Just below half of the Danish expatriates (47 pct.) have a long higher education and every fifth (21 pct.) has a medium higher education.
• In general, the Danish expatriates have a very high annual income
• 12 pct. of the Danish expatriates are company-owners
• Less than half of the Danish expatriates (44 pct.) have a work-related contact to Denmark. It is primarily those working abroad for Danish companies and company-owners who have work-related contact.
• A lower level of taxes and duties greatly influence Danish expatriates regardless of their educational level, sector, position, country of residence, special tax conditions or how many years they have worked abroad. It is only for Danish expatriates with an annual income below DKK 300,000 the lower level of taxes and duties have less influence.
• 79 pct. of the Danish expatriates, who have decided to return to Denmark, state that consideration to their family influence their decision. Equally, 66 pct. of the Danish expatriates who have not yet decided whether to return to Denmark or stay abroad, state that these considerations influence their decision
