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Today
Denmark consists of the Jutland Peninsula bordering Germany and the Danish Isles and
covers 43,069 square kilometers (16,629 square miles). 1 The present nation is the result of
several cessions of territory throughout history. The last of the former Danish territories in
southern Sweden were lost to Sweden in 1658, following one of the numerous wars
between the two nations, which especially marred the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Following defeat in the Napoleonic Wars, Norway was separated from Denmark in 1814.
After the last major war, the Second Schleswig War in 1864, Danish territory was further
reduced by a third when Schleswig and Holstein were ceded to Germany. After a regional
referendum in 1920 only North-Schleswig returned to Denmark. Finally, Iceland, withdrew
from the union with Denmark in 1944. The following will deal with the geographical unit of
today’s Denmark.
Prerequisites of Growth
Throughout history a number of advantageous factors have shaped the Danish economy.
From this perspective it may not be surprising to find today’s Denmark among the richest
societies in the world. According to the OECD, it ranked seventh in 2004, with income of
$29.231 per capita (PPP). Although we can identify a number of turning points and breaks,
for the time period over which we have quantitative evidence this long-run position has
changed little. Thus Maddison (2001) in his estimate of GDP per capita around 1600 places
Denmark as number six. One interpretation could be that favorable circumstances, rather
than ingenious institutions or policies, have determined Danish economic development.
Nevertheless, this article also deals with time periods in which the Danish economy was
either diverging from or converging towards the leading economies.
Table 1:
Average Annual GDP Growth (at factor costs)
Total Per capita
1870-1880 1.9% 0.9%
1880-1890 2.5% 1.5%
1890-1900 2.9% 1.8%
1900-1913 3.2% 2.0%
1913-1929 3.0% 1.6%
1929-1938 2.2% 1.4%
1938-1950 2.4% 1.4%
1950-1960 3.4% 2.6%
1960-1973 4.6% 3.8%
1973-1982 1.5% 1.3%
1982-1993 1.6% 1.5%
1993-2004 2.2% 2.0%
Sources: Johansen (1985) and Statistics Denmark ‘Statistikbanken' online.
Denmark’s geographical location in close proximity of the most dynamic nations of
sixteenth-century Europe, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, no doubt exerted a
positive influence on the Danish economy and Danish institutions. The North German area
influenced Denmark both through long-term economic links and through the Lutheran
Protestant Reformation which the Danes embraced in 1536.
The Danish economy traditionally specialized in agriculture like most other small and
medium-sized European countries. It is, however, rather unique to find a rich European
country in the late-nineteenth and mid-twentieth century which retained such a strong
agrarian bias. Only in the late 1950s did the workforce of manufacturing industry overtake
that of agriculture. Thus an economic history of Denmark must take its point of departure in
agricultural development for quite a long stretch of time.
Looking at resource endowments, Denmark enjoyed a relatively high agricultural land-to-
labor ratio compared to other European countries, with the exception of the UK. This was
significant for several reasons since it, in this case, was accompanied by a comparatively
wealthy peasantry.
Denmark had no mineral resources to speak of until the exploitation of oil and gas in the
North Sea began in 1972 and 1984, respectively. From 1991 on Denmark has been a net
exporter of energy although on a very modest scale compared to neighboring Norway and
Britain. The small deposits are currently projected to be depleted by the end of the second
decade of the twenty-first century.