Denmark’s strict immigration policies resulted in the granting of 860 asylum requests last year, the lowest number bar 2020, when Covid-19 lockdowns halted new arrivals.

Denmark’s immigration approach has been influenced by Right-wing parties for more than 20 years, with Mette Frederiksen, the prime minister and leader of the centre-Left Social Democrats, pursuing a “zero refugee” policy since coming to power in 2019.

The country of around six million people received 2,300 asylum requests last year.

“Last year, authorities granted the smallest number of residency permits to asylum seekers that we have seen in recent years,” Kaare Dybvad Bek, the immigration minister, said, calling the figure “historic”.

Home Office figures showed that the UK, which has a population more than 10 times that of Denmark, granted a total of 67,978 asylum claims in the year to June 2024 – more than triple the 21,436 in the previous year.