Browse a full set of economic indicators

Denmark

Includes Denmark real Gross Domestic Product growth rate, with latest forecasts and historical data, GDP per capita, GDP composition and breakdown by sector.

Browse additional economic indicators and data sets, selected by Global Finance editors, to learn more about Denmark economic outlook, debt to GDP ratio, international trade performance and population trends. Rankings of Denmark best banks and safest banks are also available.

Basic Information

Government Type: Parliamentary constitutional monarchy

Capital City: Copenhagen

GDP & Economic Information

Macroeconomy & Sovereign Data

Central Bank National Bank of Denmark (Danmarks Nationalbank)

Currency Danish kroner (DKK)

International Reserves USD 72.82 billion (2020)
World Bank, last updated 12/16/2021
Gross Domestic Product – GDP USD 396.67 billion (2021 estimate)
IMF – World Economic Outlook, October 2021
GDP (Purchasing Power Parity) USD 370.30 billion (2021 estimate)
IMF – World Economic Outlook, October 2021

GDP Data

Real GDP growth 2017 2%
2018 2.1%
2019 2.1%
2020* -2.1%
2021* 3.8%

*Estimate
GDP per capita – current prices USD 67,919.59 (2021 estimate)
IMF – World Economic Outlook, October 2021
GDP per capita – PPP USD 63,404.86 (2021 estimate)
IMF – World Economic Outlook, October 2021
GDP (PPP) – share of world total 0.26% (2021 estimate)
IMF – World Economic Outlook, October 2021
GDP – composition by sector agriculture: 1.3%
industry: 21.2%
services: 64.6%
(2018 estimate)
Gross domestic expenditure on R&D; (% of GDP) 2.9% (2019)
OECD, retrieved January 2022
Inflation 2017 1.1%
2018 0.7%
2019 0.7%
2020* 0.3%
2021* 1.4%

*Estimate

Inflation & Debt

Inflation 2017 1.1%
2018 0.7%
2019 0.7%
2020* 0.3%
2021* 1.4%

*Estimate
Government Bond Ratings Standard & Poor’s: AAA

Moody’s: Aaa

Standard & Poor’s / Moody’s (January 2022)
Unemployment rate 2017 5.8%
2018 5.1%
2019 5%
2020* -5.6%
2021* 5.4%

*Estimate
Household saving rates 5.8% (2020)

Public debt (General government gross debt as a % of GDP) 2017 35.9%
2018 34%
2019 33.6%
2020* 42.1%
2021* 38.8%

*Estimate
Public deficit (General government net lending/borrowing as a % of GDP) 2017 1.7%
2019 0.4%
2019 3.8%
2020* -0.9%
2021* -2.2%

*Estimate

Market value of publicly traded shares N/A
Largest Companies Møller-Maersk, Novo Nordisk, Danske Bank, Vestas Wind Systems, Orsted, DSV Panalpina, Carlsberg, Coloplast, Genmab, Jyske Bank, Novozymes, TrygVesta
Forbes Global 2000 (2021)

Import/Export

Exports as percent of GDP (Exports of goods and services) 5.7 % (2018 estimate)
Shares in world total merchandising export 0.56% (2018)
Shares in world total commercial services export
1.20% (2018)
Total exports USD 191.6 billion (2018 estimate)
Export commodities Wind turbines, pharmaceuticals, machinery and instruments, meat and meat products, dairy products, fish, furniture and design

Total imports USD 173.6 billion (2018 estimate)

Import commodities Machinery and equipment, raw materials and semimanufactures for industry, chemicals, grain and foodstuffs, consumer goods

Exports – major partners Germany 15.5%, Sweden 11.6%, UK 8.2%, US 7.5%, Norway 6%, China 4.4%, Netherlands 4.4% (2017)

Imports – major partners Germany 21.3%, Sweden 11.9%, Netherlands 7.8%, China 7.1%, Norway 6.3%, Poland 4% (2017)

Competitiveness & Trade

Current account balance USD 20.1 billion (2018 estimate)

Current account balance by percentage of GDP 6.6% (2017 estimate)

FDI inflows 2016 USD 38 million
2017 USD 3,447 million
2018 USD 1,789 million
FDI Outflows 2016 USD 9,881 million
2017 USD 8,896 million
2018 USD -3,690 million
Value of cross-border M&A, by country of purchaser 2015 USD 1,838 million
2016 USD 1,330 million
2017 USD 5,001 million
2018 USD 2,427 million
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2014 N/A
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2015 N/A
Best countries for doing business Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business. A high ease of doing business ranking means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm.

Overall ranking:

4 out of 190 countries

​Subcategories:
Starting a Business: 45 out of 190 countries
Dealing with Construction Permits: 4 out of 190 countries
Getting Electricity: 21 out of 190 countries
Registering Property: 11 out of 190 countries
Getting Credit: 48 out of 190 countries
Protecting Minority Investors: 28 out of 190 countries
Paying Taxes: 8 out of 190 countries
Trading across Borders: 1 out of 190 countries
Enforcing Contracts: 14 out of 190 countries
Resolving Insolvency: 6 out of 190 countries
Global competitiveness ranking
10 out of 141 countries

(2019)
Index of Economic Freedom Ranking: 14 / Score: 76.7 (Mostly free)

(100=totally free 0=totally repressed)

Population & Geographic Data

Time Zone UTC +1
Total Area 43,094 sq km



Total Population 1990 5.14 million
2000 5.33 million
2010 5.54 million
2015 5.66 million
2020 5.84 million

*Estimate
Urban population as % of total population 1960 73.7%
1980 83.7%
2000 85.1%
2018 87.9%
Population median age 41.9 years

Population growth rate 0.59% (2018 estimate)

Life expectancy 81 years (2018 estimate)

% of population living on less than $3.10 a day 0.2% (last available estimate, 2015)

Inequality of wealth distribution (Gini index) 28.2 (last available estimate, 2015)

(0=perfect equality, 100=absolute inequality)
Freedom House rating Free
Political Rights: 1
Civil Liberties: 1 (2019)
(1 represents the most free, 7 the least free rating)
Total telephone subscribers as % of population
Fixed: 19.7%

Mobile: 125.1%

(2018)

(fixed-telephone subscribers and mobile-cellular subscribers)
Internet users as % of total population 97.64 % (2018)

Language & Religon

Languages Danish, Faroese, Greenlandic (an Inuit dialect), German (small minority)

Literacy N/A
Religions Evangelical Lutheran (official) 74.7%, Muslim 5.5%, other/none/unspecified (denominations of less than 1% each in descending order of size include Roman Catholic, Jehovah’s Witness, Serbian Orthodox Christian, Jewish, Baptist, Buddhist, Mormon, Pentecosta

World Rankings

Population 5.84 M
Mercer Cost of living index Copenhagen: 20th (2019)

C02 Emissions per capita 5.94 metric tons per capita (2014)

Global Finance Rankings & Awards: Denmark

Global Finance Magazine holds several conferences and awards ceremonies throughout the year to recognize the winning financial institutions and companies in a host of categories including World’s Best Trade Finance Banks, World's Biggest Banks, World's Safest Banks, World's Best Developed & Emerging Markets Banks, World's Best Internet Banks, and World’s Best Investment Banks.


Data Sources:

IMF World Economic Outlook

UN World Population Prospects

World Inequality Report

S&P Global Ratings

Moody’s

Fitch Ratings

IMF Direction of Trade Statistics (DOTS)

UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

CIA The World Factbook

World Bank’s World Integrated Trade Solution

Forbes Global 2000

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