CFI Data on Denmark

The light green area is the rest of the European Union

Denmark was the 36th largest economy in the world by nominal GDP in 2018. GDP per capita is $60,726, which is above the average for high income and OECD countries, and is among the highest in the world. It is a well-developed and open economy. It is ranked 17th in the World Bank's Human Capital Index and 8th in the Logistics Performance Index. It is a member of the EU and OECD. It is not a member of the eurozone but instead pegs its currency (krone) to the euro. Denmark is an example of the Nordic model, characterised by an internationally high tax level, and a correspondingly high level of government-provided services. Services was the largest economic sector in 2018 (65 percent of GDP), followed by manufacturing (12.6 percent), and agriculture (1 percent). In 2017, the largest export sectors were services (39.45 percent), chemicals (15.13 percent), agriculture (13.8 percent), and machinery (10.1 percent). The largest individual exports were transport services (21.19 percent), ICT services (12.8 percent), and packaged medicaments (8.5 percent). Its largest export partners were Germany (13.4 percent), Sweden (10.73 percent), USA (7.25 percent), UK (6.2 percent), and Norway (5.63 percent). The largest goods imports were cars (4.89 percent), packaged medicaments (3.45 percent), refined petroleum (3.1 percent), and crude oil (2.4 percent). Denmark's economy has long benefitted from free trade, specialisation, and proximity to the large markets of the UK and the Netherlands. Unusually, its modern economy was developed mainly through agriculture, particularly butter and bacon exports to the UK. It was not until the 1950s that manufacturing displaced agriculture in importance. The Danish economy is also unusual in that there were no forced nationalisations of industry in the 20th century and that industry developed without import substitution. Light industry developed organically to supply the domestic market and later began exporting. In the late 1960s, the welfare state was developed as new taxes provided the government with increased income. In 1973, Denmark joined the European Economic Community at the same time as its key trading partner, the UK. However, it has opted out of four areas of EU cooperation, including the euro and a common-defence policy. The economy continues to evolve and rates highly in terms of digitisation and productivity. The economy contracted during the global financial crisis but has since returned to modest growth.

Trade agreement information for Denmark

Does Denmark belong to any economic unions or free trade areas?

Member of the European Union (EU) since 01/01/1973

Other members:

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden

Which trade deals does Denmark have through its membership of the EU?

EU - Andorra Customs Union (from 01/01/1991)

European Single Market (SM) (from 01/01/1993)

EU - Sri-Lanka Co-operation and Partnership Agreement (from 01/04/1995)

EU - Turkey Customs Union (from 31/12/1995)

EU - Faroe Islands Agreement (from 01/01/1997)

EU - Palestinian Authority Interim Association Agreement (from 01/07/1997)

EU - Tunisia Association Agreement (from 01/03/1998)

EU - Armenia Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (from 09/09/1999)

EU - Morocco Association Agreement (from 01/03/2000)

EU - Israel Association Agreement (from 01/06/2000)

EU - Mexico Global Agreement (from 01/10/2000)

EU - San Marino Customs Union (from 01/04/2002)

EU - Jordan Association Agreement (from 01/05/2002)

EU - North Macedonia Stabilisation and Association Agreement (from 01/04/2004)

EU - Pakistan Co-operation agreement (from 29/04/2004)

EU - Egypt Association Agreement (from 01/06/2004)

EU - Chile Association Agreement and Additional Protocol (from 01/03/2005)

EU - Algeria Association Agreement (from 01/09/2005)

EU - Lebanon Association Agreement (from 01/04/2006)

EU - Albania Stabilisation and Association Agreement (from 01/04/2009)

EU - Montenegro Stabilisation and Association Agreement (from 01/05/2010)

EU - Central America Association Agreement (from 01/08/2013)

EU - Serbia Stabilisation and Association Agreement (from 01/09/2013)

EU - Bosnia and Herzegovina Stabilisation and Association Agreement (from 01/06/2015)

EU - South Korea Free Trade Agreement (from 01/07/2015)

EU - Kosovo Stabilisation and Association Agreement (from 01/04/2016)

EU - Georgia Association Agreement (from 01/07/2016)

EU - Moldova Association Agreement (from 01/07/2016)

EU - Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) (from 21/09/2017)

EU - Eswatini (SADC) Economic Partnership Agreement (from 05/02/2018)

EU - Lesotho (SADC) Economic Partnership Agreement (from 05/02/2018)

EU - Mozambique (SADC) Economic Partnership Agreement (from 05/02/2018)

EU - Namibia (SADC) Economic Partnership Agreement (from 05/02/2018)

EU - South Africa Economic Partnership Agreement (from 05/02/2018)

EU - Botswana (SADC) Economic Partnership Agreement (from 05/02/2018)

EU - Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (from 01/02/2019)

EU - UK Withdrawal Agreement Transition Period (from 01/02/2020)

What bilateral trade deals are there between Denmark and other countries and economic unions?

None

Data sources

1 UNCTAD

2 World Bank

3 IMF World Economic Outlook Database

4 The Economist