The number of Danes between the ages of 16-64 receiving public benefits fell by 6,800 people between the third and fourth quarter of 2018, if recipients of state education grants (SU) are not counted.

According to new figures from Statistics Denmark, there were 151,700 fewer working-age people receiving public benefits in the fourth quarter of 2018 than in the beginning of 2010, when the number peaked. In recent years, the number of SU recipients has been around 325,000.

“The number of people dependent on public benefits continues to decrease. The prosperity and political reforms of recent years have resulted in fewer benefit recipients, but also in fewer people retiring early from the labour market,” says Steen Nielsen, Director at DI.

“It’s very positive that more people are choosing to continue working for longer, and that more people are gaining a foothold in the Danish labour market. It is important, both for the individual and for our common welfare, that companies continue to be able to obtain the labour they require. That’s why, now that times are good, we must make sure to get more people who remain outside the labour market into jobs,” says Steen Nielsen.