That dollar amount results from a 25.1% upturn from $106.9 billion five years earlier during 2020.
Year over year, the overall value of Danish exports fell -1.8% compared to $136.1 billion in 2023.
Based on the average exchange rate for 2024, the Danish krone depreciated by -0.05% against the US dollar from 2023 to 2024. Denmark’s slightly weaker local currency makes its exports paid for in stronger US dollars relatively less expensive for international buyers.
Denmark’s top 5 most valuable exported products are medication mixes in dosage, blood fractions including antisera, cars, pork, and refined petroleum oils. Collectively, that cohort of leading Danish exports generated over one-fifth (21.9%) of Denmark’s overall export revenues during 2024.
Denmark’s Most Valuable Trading Partners
The latest available country-specific data shows that 67.5% of products exported from Denmark was bought by importers in: Germany (15.9% of Denmark’s total), Sweden (9.3%), Netherlands (6.9%), United States of America (6.3%), Norway (6.2%), United Kingdom (5%), Poland (4.7%), France (4%), mainland China (2.8%), Italy (2.3%), Finland (2.1%) and Spain (2%).
From a continental perspective, three-quarters (75%) of Denmark’s exports by value was delivered to fellow European countries while 13% was sold to importers in Asia. Denmark shipped another 7.7% worth of goods to buyers in North America.
Denmark is also a member of the European Union. EU members bought 70.2% of Danish exports sold in 2024.
Tinier percentages went to customers in Oceania (1.56%) led by Australia, Marshall Islands and New Zealand, Latin America (1.51%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean then Africa (1.3%).
Given Denmark’s population of 5.95 million people, its total $133.7 billion in 2024 exports translates to roughly $22,500 for every resident in the northern European country. That dollar metric lags the average $23,200 per capita one year earlier in 2023.
Denmark’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Danish global shipments during 2024. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Denmark.
- Pharmaceuticals: US$21.8 billion (16.3% of total exports)
- Machinery including computers: $17 billion (12.7%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: $10.1 billion (7.5%)
- Mineral fuels including oil: $5.8 billion (4.3%)
- Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $5 billion (3.8%)
- Vehicles: $4.8 billion (3.6%)
- Meat: $3.8 billion (2.9%)
- Fish: $3.6 billion (2.7%)
- Articles of iron or steel: $3.5 billion (2.6%)
- Dairy, eggs, honey: $3.4 billion (2.6%)
Denmark’s top 10 export product categories accounted for 59% of the overall value of total Danish shipments.
Items made from iron or steel represent the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 14.4% from 2023 to 2024.
In second place for improving export sales was the vehicles category via a 13.5% advance, led by cars.
Denmark’s shipments of electrical machinery and equipment posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 11.2%.
The leading decliner among Denmark’s top 10 export categories was mineral fuels including oil, pulled down by a -55.1% year-over-year slowdown.
At the more detailed four-digit Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) code level, Denmark’s most valuable exported products are medication mixes in dosage (11.8% of total), blood fractions including antisera (4.1%), cars (2.1%), pork (2%), processed petroleum oils (1.8%), electric generating sets and converters (also 1.8%), cheese and curd (1.7%), hormones and miscellaneous steroids (1.6%), live swine (1.3%), then enzymes including prepared enzymes (1.2%).
Products Generating Denmark’s Highest Trade Surpluses
Denmark earned an overall US$11.9 billion trade surplus in 2024, accelerating by 22.6% from the $9.7 billion in black ink one year earlier for 2023.
The following types of Danish product shipments represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports.
In a nutshell, net exports represent the amount by which foreign spending on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags the home country’s spending on foreign goods or services.
- Pharmaceuticals: US$15.1 billion (Down by -3% since 2023)
- Machinery including computers: $3.5 billion (Up by 36.2%)
- Meat: $2.8 billion (Up by 6.4%)
- Dairy, eggs, honey: $2.3 billion (Up by 5.7%)
- Modified starches, glues, enzymes: $2.2 billion (Up by 4.4%)
- Live animals: $2 billion (Down by -0.4%)
- Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $1.2 billion (Up by 15%)
- Organic chemicals: $984.8 million (Down by -20.5%)
- Other chemical goods: $822.6 million (Up by 37%)
- Fish: $752.4 million (Up by 17.6%)
Denmark has highly positive net exports in the international trade of drugs and medicines. In turn, these cashflows indicate Denmark’s strong competitive advantages under the pharmaceuticals product category.
Products Causing Denmark’s Worst Trade Deficits
Below are exports from Denmark that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Denmark’s goods trail Danish importer spending on foreign products.
- Vehicles: US-$7.1 billion (Down by -4.8% since 2023)
- Mineral fuels including oil: -$2.8 billion (Down by -28.3%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$1.72 billion (Down by -47.1%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$1.69 billion (Up by 3.8%)
- Wood: -$1.6 billion (Up by 6.1%)
- Ships, boats: -$1.4 billion (Reversing a $139.6 million surplus)
- Iron, steel: -$846 million (Up by 3.9%)
- Fruits, nuts: -$745.2 million (Up by 11.5%)
- Paper, paper items: -$570.2 million (Down by -1.5%)
- Aircraft, spacecraft: -$508.7 million (Up by 10%)
Denmark has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits under the vehicles category historically for cars, trucks, trailers, tractors and even bicycles.
These cashflow deficiencies clearly indicate Denmark’s competitive disadvantages in the international vehicles market, but also represent key opportunities for Denmark to improve its position in the global economy through focused innovations on alternative transportation means.
Denmark’s Major Export Companies
Fourteen Danish corporations rank among Forbes Global 2000 for 2020. Below is a sample of the major Danish companies that Forbes included.
- A.P. Moller-Maersk Group (transportation, energy)
- Carlsberg (beverages)
- Coloplast (medical equipment, supplies)
- DSV (transportation, logistics)
- Novo Nordisk (pharmaceuticals)
- Novozymes (biotechs)
- TDC (telecommunications services)
- Vestas Wind Systems (electrical equipment)
Wikipedia also lists exporters from Denmark. Selected examples are shown below.
- Arla Foods (dairy products)
- House of Amber (jewelry)
- Kopenhagen Fur (fur clothing, accessories)
- Lego Group (toys)
- Pharma Nord (pharmaceuticals)
- Royal Copenhagen (porcelain)
- Tuborg (brewery)
In macroeconomic terms, Denmark’s total exported goods represent 26.9% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2024 ($496.7 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 26.9% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2024 compares to 30.9% one year earlier. Those percentages suggest a decreasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Denmark’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.
Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. Denmark’s unemployment rate averaged 2.9% during 2024, up from an average 2.783% for 2023 according to International Monetary Fund data.
Denmark’s capital city is Copenhagen.
See also Denmark’s Top 10 Imports, Denmark’s Top Trading Partners, Drugs and Medicine Exports by Country and Top Blood Exporters by Country
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Country Profiles. Accessed on April 19, 2025
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on April 19, 2025
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on April 19, 2025
Trade Map, International Trade Centre. Accessed on April 19, 2025
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on April 19, 2025
Wikipedia, Denmark. Accessed on April 19, 2025
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on April 19, 2025
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Denmark. Accessed on April 19, 2025
Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on April 19, 2025
X-rates.com, Exchange Rates: Singapore Dollar to US Dollar (monthly average 2024). Accessed on April 19, 2025