Top ten export countries.
Photograph: iStock
Text: Mariano Anthony Davies
The statistics and figures behind this article are the latest and official figures for 2020, showing that Denmark has managed to adjust and maintain a reasonably satisfactory export level despite the global pandemic.
GERMANY
For many years now, Germany has been the country to which Denmark exports most with 16% or USD 13.54B in 2020. Although these are the lowest figures over the last ten years, the highest result reached in 2014 at approx. USD 18.5B, this is nevertheless an impressive result in the circumstances.
The top five export areas are listed below:
Machinery, nuclear reactors and boilers.
Electrical and electronic equipment.
Vehicles other than railway and tramway.
Articles of apparel – not knit or crocheted.
Live animals.
SWEDEN
Similarly, Sweden has also for many years been the second most important export market for Denmark with 11% of Danish export or USD 9.34B in 2020. Over the last ten years, the best year was 2011 when export almost reached USD 14B, but there was a massive fall in export to Sweden last year.
The top five export areas are listed below:
Machinery, nuclear reactors and boilers.
Electrical and electronic equipment.
Mineral fuels, oils and distillation products.
Plastics.
Furniture, lighting signs and prefabricated buildings.
THE NETHERLANDS
In 2020, The Netherlands was the third-largest export market with approximately 7.3% of Danish export or USD 6.19B, which like Sweden, was a massive decrease over ten years and Denmark normally exports much more to the United Kingdom and the United States than Norway and The Netherlands.
The top five export areas are listed below:
Electrical and electronic equipment.
Machinery, nuclear reactors and boilers.
Mineral fuels, oils and distillation products.
Furniture, lighting signs and prefabricated buildings.
Vehicles other than railway and tramway.
NORWAY
Not far behind The Netherlands was Norway, with approximately USD 6.16B. In this case, that was a vast increase seen over ten years.
The top five export areas are listed below:
Machinery, nuclear reactors and boilers.
Electrical and electronic equipment.
Furniture, lighting signs and prefabricated buildings.
Animal, vegetable fats & oils and cleavage products.
Articles of iron or steel.
THE UNITED KINGDOM
Export to the UK fell drastically from over USD 10B in 2010 to USD 4.98B in 2020 – perhaps a combination of BREXIT and the pandemic in this case (with just slightly less exported to the United States in 2020).
The top five UK export areas are listed below:
Machinery, nuclear reactors and boilers.
Electrical and electronic equipment.
Meat and edible meat offal.
Meat, fish and seafood preparations.
Furniture, lighting signs and prefabricated buildings.
The following five in the top ten export countries in 2020 were the United States (USD 4.93B), China (USD 4.33B), Poland (USD 3.71B), France (USD 3.09B) and Italy (USD 2.06B).
Denmark supports a high standard of living—it's per capita gross national product is among the highest in the world—with well-developed social services. However, the economy is based primarily on service industries, trade, and manufacturing; only a tiny percentage of the population is engaged in agriculture and fishing.
"Denmark supports a high standard of living—it's per capita gross national product is among the highest in the world—with well-developed social services."
It is not easy to deduce from the statistics in this article that more than 60% of Denmark is actually used for agricultural purposes and is among the biggest industries in the Danish economy alongside tourism, energy and transportation.
The service sector dominates the Danish economy with 80% of all jobs, whereas about 11% of all employees work in manufacturing and only 2% in agriculture. Robotics and electronic equipment, in general, are very well-established and highly effective in Danish industry.
In terms of nominal gross national income per capita, Denmark is within the global top ten, only surpassed by Lichtenstein, Bermuda, Switzerland, Norway, Macau, the Isle of Man, Luxembourg, Iceland and the United States.
Although BREXIT and the pandemic have hugely impacted the Danish economy, it has not been a disaster. On the contrary, Danish Industry has been very adaptable to these challenges. Although working from home has slowed down the economy, the vast majority of companies have found ways of coping with these challenges.