Empty houses, youth drain and ailing businesses normally form the core of reports we see from the outer reaches of the Danish countryside. There is, however, another truth according to Jyllands-Popsten.

More than half of Denmark’s country parishes have actually experienced population increases over the past 10 years. Even in parishes that are located in rim areas, and where there have been an overall population reduction, 33 percent of these parishes are now reporting an increase.

“It is important to learn from the villages where it’s going well, and not just concentrate on the rim regions,” says Researcher Pia Heike Johansen of the University of Southern Denmark.

Carsten Abid, who chairs the Villages in Denmark Association, says he believes in a new golden era for Denmark’s villages.