You may recall back in January I asked readers and other expats based in Copenhagen to complete a questionnaire for me about relocation experiences. I was very grateful that so many of you took the time to complete this for me. A few people asked me to share the results so here is a summary of the key findings from the results, I would be interested to hear your thoughts on this – do leave me a comment below.

Here are the headlines….

• So for most people (60%) their move to Copenhagen was their first relocation and only 40% of respondents had access to a relocation company.
• I asked where they would have found help the most useful and the top three were apartment search and support, support with SKAT and Kommune registration and also more local information.
• The biggest challenges respondents faced were meeting other people, not speaking Danish, feelings of isolation and of course, finding the right place to live.
• There were a lot of positives about the experience –  the city is easy to get around, majority of Danes speak English, excellent public transport, smooth bureaucracy, excellent childcare and access to language schools.
• People particularly enjoyed exploring the city, a more relaxed way of life, shorter working hours, less traffic, relative safety, independence for children, quality of life especially for families, clean air.
• The main sources of information respondents used were official websites, talking to expats and Danes, Facebook groups and blogs.
• To have made their relocation easier the top things would have been finding suitable and affordable housing, understanding more Danish or having access to more translated materials and a central point of information about bureaucracy ( a note on this, International House offers a lot of this information and support).
• Most people had moved here with their spouse and planned to stay less than five years.
• The respondents were split almost down the middle when it came to learning Danish or not.