Net expenditure of 74,000 kroner... average for MENAPT immigrants in Denmark in 2019

Denmark’s Ministry of Finance, in a revised September 2023 report, estimated that immigrants from MENAPT countries—Denmark’s classification grouping the Middle East, North Africa, Turkey, Afghanistan and Pakistan—had an average net public-finance contribution of minus 74,000 kroner per person in 2019, while immigrants from Western countries contributed a net positive 52,000 kroner. The net figure is an estimate of public revenue such as taxes minus public services and transfer payments, and represents a group average rather than an amount paid or received by any individual. The ministry said the MENAPT category is a country-of-origin grouping and does not denote a particular religion or individual economic trait. The figures matter because they frame Denmark’s fiscal debate over immigration, though the 2019 data predate classification changes made after 2022.