This is how many people now live in the Öresund region

The population of the Öresund Region has grown by 300,000 people over the last decade, taking its total population to more than four million, according to new figures presented at the Business Arena conference in Malmö.

Published: 2 April 2019 16:49 CEST

This is how many people now live in the Öresund region

Young families enjoy the spring weather earlier this year. Photo: Johan Nilsson/TT

But while the region's total population exceeds that of Berlin, Paris or Madrid, economic growth still lags behind the most dynamic European regions, according to the Öresund Institute, which prepared the report.

“I think we have good momentum, but we also have a problem, both in Malmö and Copenhagen, which is that the economic growth in both cities is still lagging behind cities like Stockholm, Amsterdam and Hamburg,” Johan Wessman, the Institute's chief executive, told The Local.

The Öresund Region, sometimes marketed as Greater Copenhagen, groups the Danish cities of Copenhagen, Odense and Roskilde together with Malmö, Lund, and Helsingborg in Sweden, and their surrounding regions.

By marketing the area as a single business region, and encouraging cross-border activity, local municipal and regional governments hope to draw investment to the area.

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According to the figures, which were first released at the end of January, the region's population grew by 0.8 percent in 2018, with Denmark's Christiansø seeing the fastest growth, expanding by 8.4 percent.

Swedish commuter towns of Svedala, Staffanstorp and Lomma grew by 2.4 percent, 2.3 percent and 2.1 percent respectively, and Solrød and Vallensbæk in Denmark by 2.4 and 2.3 percent.

Malmö grew by 1.7 percent, Copenhagen by 1.6 percent, Lund by 1.4 percent, and Helsingborg by 1.5 percent.

Wessman said that the population on the Swedish side of the Öresund Strait had been growing faster in recent years as a result of the 2015 refugee wave, which was continuing to push population growth as refugees settled elsewhere in Sweden move to join family and friends in Malmö.

“We have seen migration from other countries, mostly in the Swedish part of the Öresund region, which has had a rather heavy impact over the last couple of years,” he said.

But he said the region was also growing faster because of its young population and the cities' positive reputation both internationally and locally.

“We have a reputation for interesting cities with good liveability,” he said. “And when you have a young population, you have more children and higher birth rates.”

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Bonuses on the new “CopenPay” scheme include a kayak or boat tour, a vegetarian meal, a museum ticket, or an e-bicycle ride — free of charge.

Why does the city want to give away these freebies?

“It is a core task for us to make travelling sustainable. And we will only succeed if we bridge the large gap between the visitors’ desire to act sustainably and their actual behaviour”, tourism board CEO Mikkel Aaro-Hansen said.

The public’s reaction has been “overwhelmingly positive”, although some disappointed visitors “would have liked the scheme to be in place during their stay,” Copenhagen tourism office communications director Rikke Holm Petersen told news agency AFP.

Although the tourist board says it wants the scheme to change behaviour to a more eco-friendly approach, it admits the initiative alone cannot dent the environmental impact of tourism.

More than 100,000 passengers flew into Copenhagen in June, resulting in a much higher carbon footprint than bus or train travel, according to airport data.

“The environmental burden of transportation to and from Copenhagen is much more significant than that of local transportation,” said tourism website VisitCopenhagen.

“We have chosen to limit our advertising efforts to Copenhagen Airport, the central station, and within the city itself, rather than conducting marketing campaigns abroad,” Petersen said.

The tourism office will consider extending the scheme beyond the city — perhaps even abroad — if it proves successful.

“We hope to reintroduce CopenPay as a year-round, green payment experience within the economy and broaden the concept to other parts of Denmark and the rest of the world,” according to the VisitCopenhagen site.