Denmark

parliamentary constitutional monarchy

name: Copenhagen geographic coordinates: 55 40 N, 12 35 E time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October; note - applies to continental Denmark only, not to its North Atlantic components etymology: name derives from the Danish words k ber (merchant or buyer) and havn (harbor or port)

chief of state: King FREDERIK X (since 14 January 2024) head of government: Prime Minister Mette FREDERIKSEN (since 27 June 2019) cabinet: Council of State appointed by the monarch election/appointment process: the monarchy is hereditary; following legislative elections, the monarch usually appoints the leader of the majority party or majority coalition as prime minister note: Queen MARGRETHE II abdicated on 14 January 2024, the first Danish monarch to voluntarily abdicate since King ERIC III in 1146

legislature name: Parliament (Folketinget) legislative structure: unicameral chamber name: The Danish Parliament (Folketinget) number of seats: 179 (all directly elected) electoral system: proportional representation scope of elections: full renewal term in office: 4 years most recent election date: 11/1/2022 parties elected and seats per party: Social Democratic Party (50); Liberal Party (Venstre) (23); Moderates (M) (16); Socialist People's Party (SF) (15); Danish Democrats (Æ) (14); Liberal Alliance (14); Conservative People's Party (10); Unity List-Red-Green Alliance (9); Other (24) percentage of women in chamber: 43.6% expected date of next election: October 2026

highest court(s): Supreme Court (consists of the court president and 18 judges) judge selection and term of office: judges appointed by the monarch upon the recommendation of the Minister of Justice, with the advice of the Judicial Appointments Council, a 6-member independent body of judges and lawyers; judges appointed for life with retirement at age 70 subordinate courts: Special Court of Indictment and Revision; 2 High Courts; Maritime and Commercial Court; county courts

history: several previous; latest adopted 5 June 1953 amendment process: proposed by the Folketing (Parliament) with consent of the government; passage requires approval by the next Folketing following a general election, approval by simple majority vote of at least 40% of voters in a referendum, and assent of the chief of state

ADB (nonregional member), AfDB (nonregional member), Arctic Council, Australia Group, BIS, CBSS, CD, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECB, EIB, EITI (implementing country), ESA, EU, FAO, FATF, G-9, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD (partners), IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, NATO, NC, NEA, NIB, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, Schengen Convention, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNMISS, UNOOSA, UNRWA, UNTSO, UPU, Wassenaar Arrangement, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

3.2% of GDP (2025 est.) 2.3% of GDP (2024 est.) 2% of GDP (2023 est.) 1.4% of GDP (2022 est.) 1.3% of GDP (2021 est.)

Danish Armed Forces (Forsvaret): Royal Danish Army, Royal Danish Navy, Royal Danish Air Force (2025)

18 years of age for compulsory and voluntary military service for men and women; draftees serve 11 months, including five months of basic training, followed by six months in an operational unit (2025) note 1: Denmark has had compulsory military service since 1849; conscripts are chosen by lottery; conscientious objectors can choose to instead serve 6 months in a non-military position, for example in Beredskabsstyrelsen (dealing with non-military disasters like fires, flood, pollution, etc.) or overseas foreign aid work note 2: women have been able serve in all military occupations, including combat arms, since 1988; military conscription was extended to women in June 2025

the Danish Armed Forces (Forsvaret) have a variety of missions, including enforcing the country s sovereignty, monitoring Danish waters and airspace, search and rescue, environmental protection, host nation support for alliance partners, international peacekeeping, fulfilling Denmark s commitments to NATO, and providing assistance to the police for border control, guard tasks, air surveillance, and during national disasters and other emergencies NATO has been a cornerstone of Danish security and defense police since it joined in 1949 as one of the organization s original members under the North Atlantic Treaty (also known as the Washington Treaty); the Forsvaret regularly exercises with NATO allies and participates in a number of NATO missions, including its Enhanced Forward Presence in Eastern Europe, air policing in the Baltics, naval operations in the Baltic Sea and North Atlantic, and an advisory mission in Iraq; the Forsvaret leads NATO s Multinational Division North (inaugurated 2019), a headquarters based in Latvia that supports the defense planning of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, and the coordination of regional military activities, including NATO s forward deployed forces; it also takes part in other international missions for Europe and the UN ranging from peacekeeping in Africa to protecting Europe's external borders by patrolling the Mediterranean Sea in support of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency; Denmark is a member of the EU and voted to join the EU s Common Defense and Security Policy in a 2022 referendum; the Forsvaret cooperates closely with the militaries of other Nordic countries through the Nordic Defense Cooperation (NORDEFCO; established 2009), which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden in such areas as armaments, training and exercises, and operations; it also has a joint composite special operations command with Belgium and the Netherlands the Forsvaret has an Arctic Command to protect the sovereignty of Denmark in the Arctic region, including the Faroe Islands and Greenland, and conducts maritime pollution prevention, environmental monitoring, fishery inspections, search and rescue, and hydrographical surveys, plus support to governmental science missions; there is also a joint service Special Operations Command (SOKOM), which includes the Sirius Dog Sled Patrol, an elite unit that patrols the most remote parts of northeast Greenland (2025)

Denmark contributes air, ground, and naval forces to a variety of international missions, including grounds troops to NATO's forward defenses in Latvia (2025)

$440.558 billion (2024 est.) $424.937 billion (2023 est.) $414.592 billion (2022 est.) note: data in 2021 dollars

$73,700 (2024 est.) $71,500 (2023 est.) $70,200 (2022 est.) note: data in 2021 dollars

3.7% (2024 est.) 2.5% (2023 est.) 1.5% (2022 est.) note: annual GDP % growth based on constant local currency

1.4% (2024 est.) 3.3% (2023 est.) 7.7% (2022 est.) note: annual % change based on consumer prices

35.3% of GDP (2017 est.) note: data cover general government debt and include debt instruments issued (or owned) by government entities other than the treasury; the data include treasury debt held by foreign entities; the data include debt issued by subnational entities, as well as intra-governmental debt; intragovernmental debt consists of treasury borrowings from surpluses in the social funds, such as for retirement, medical care, and unemployment; debt instruments for the social funds are not sold at public auctions

$299.405 billion (2024 est.) $276.646 billion (2023 est.) $283.37 billion (2022 est.) note: balance of payments - exports of goods and services in current dollars

$252.954 billion (2024 est.) $243.478 billion (2023 est.) $245.07 billion (2022 est.) note: balance of payments - imports of goods and services in current dollars

5.6% (2024 est.) 5.1% (2023 est.) 4.5% (2022 est.) note: % of labor force seeking employment

revenues: $149.393 billion (2023 est.) expenditures: $136.662 billion (2023 est.) note: central government revenues (excluding grants) and expenditures converted to US dollars at average official exchange rate for year indicated

wind turbines, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, shipbuilding and refurbishment, iron, steel, nonferrous metals, chemicals, food processing, machinery and transportation equipment, textiles and clothing, electronics, construction, furniture and other wood products

milk, wheat, potatoes, barley, sugar beets, pork, rapeseed, rye, oats, chicken (2023) note: top ten agricultural products based on tonnage

total: 6,051,491 (2025 est.) male: 3,001,698 female: 3,049,793

0.64% (2025 est.)

0-14 years: 16.2% (male 496,793/female 471,018) 15-64 years: 62.9% (male 1,903,315/female 1,856,615) 65 years and over: 20.8% (2024 est.) (male 575,153/female 670,242)

9.81 births/1,000 population (2025 est.)

10.56 deaths/1,000 population (2025 est.)

7.12 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2025 est.)

total population: 82.1 years (2024 est.) male: 80.2 years female: 84.1 years

urban population: 88.5% of total population (2023) rate of urbanization: 0.54% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Danish (includes Greenlandic (who are predominantly Inuit) and Faroese) 84.2%, Turkish 1.1%, other 14.7% (largest groups are Polish, Romanian, Syrian, Ukrainian, German, and Iraqi) (2023 est.) note: data represent population by country of origin

Danish, Faroese, Greenlandic (an Inuit dialect), German (small minority); note - English is the predominant second language major-language sample(s): Verdens Faktabog, den uundv rlig kilde til grundl ggende oplysninger. (Danish) The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.

Evangelical Lutheran (official) 71.4%, Muslim 4.3%, other/none/unspecified (denominations include Roman Catholic, Jehovah's Witness, Serbian Orthodox Christian, Jewish, Baptist, Buddhist, Church of Jesus Christ, Pentecostal, and nondenominational Christian) 24.3% (2024 est.)

petroleum, natural gas, fish, arable land, salt, limestone, chalk, stone, gravel and sand

Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham (ISIS); Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)/Qods Force note: details about the history, aims, leadership, organization, areas of operation, tactics, targets, weapons, size, and sources of support of the group(s) appear(s) in the Terrorism reference guide

refugees: 100,832 (2024 est.) stateless persons: 8,566 (2024 est.)

102 (2025)

total: 2,682 km (2020) 876 km electrified

total: 715 (2023) by type: bulk carrier 15, container ship 132, general cargo 69, oil tanker 107, other 392

total subscriptions: 7.57 million (2024 est.) subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 127 (2024 est.)

percent of population: 100% (2024 est.)