Armelle Delmelle
March 9th, 2022

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A great year for industrial output (photo: Steve pb)

After a small dip in 2020, Danish industrial output rose to 925 billion kroner in 2021 – an increase of 78 billion kroner. 

Turnover increased across all industry groups, with machinery, food and beverages, and tobacco leadint the way. Together they accounted for 41.6 percent of the total turnover and 37.2 percent of industrial employment. 

The largest increases were in the extraction of raw materials (up 20.9 percent), furniture and other manufacturing (20.2), chemical and petroleum refining (18.7) and transportation equipment (16.7).  

Pharma gap
The biggest mover in recent times has been the pharmaceutical industry, which has grown by 251.5 percent since 2008. 

But while it has a turnover share of 16.6 percent, it only accounts for 8.3 percent of employment.

At the end of the spectrum was the metal industry, which accounted for 6.4 percent of industry turnover and 12.4 percent of employment. 

Large increase in inflation in Denmark 
Inflation in Denmark stood at 4.9 percent in January 2022 compared to 3.4 percent in December 2021. Over the same period, the inflation rate in the 27 EU countries climbed from 5.3 to 5.6 percent. In the case of both Denmark and the EU, this is the highest inflation rate in the history of the EU HICP, which started in 1997. Price increases for electricity, fuel, and food are largely blamed for the rate rising.

House prices rose significantly in 2021 
Property became more expensive in 2021 – across the whole country, but there were differences depending on what type of home. With a 16.9 percent increase, Bornholm saw the largest increase in the prices of a family home in 2021. Nationally, holiday homes saw the biggest rise, increasing on average by 14.5 percent. While apartment prices soared quicker in North Zealand and the Capital Region compared to other regions.

Electric cars more popular than plug-ins for the second month in a row 
Since January 1, it has become more expensive to buy a plug-in hybrid car and people are accordingly favouring electric cars. In February, for the second month in a row, more electric cars than plug-in hybrids were sold. “We estimate that green car sales in 2022 will be heavily dominated by electric cars, which are showing good momentum in the first two months of the year,” Mads Rørvig, the CEO of the Danish Car Importers, told erhvervplus.dk. However, manufacturers are already struggling to meet the demand for green cars –partly due to a lack of components caused by the conflict in Ukraine.  

Elgiganten increases focus on sustainability 
Elgiganten is now working with the international certification company EcoVadis to focus on sustainability. “The aim is to make it easier to make environmentally-friendly choices. Together with EcoVadis, we now give our customers insight into how different suppliers score when viewed through sustainability lenses,” Peder Stedal, the CEO of Elgiganten, told erhvervplus.dk. Half of Elgiganten’s turnover is derived from products delivered by suppliers that are EcoVadis-certified. 

Jutland airline will pick up Ukrainian refugees 
Danish Air Transport in Vamdrup is offering to pick up Ukrainian refugees. The first trip will be at the Jutland airline’s expense, DAT head Jesper Rungholm told TV2. It will cost about 175,000 kroner. The aircraft will provide an ATR72 aircraft with seating for 74 people. On the last weekend of February, the airline offered the Danish authorities use of the available, but did not hear back. Rungholm was hired by the authorities last August to bring diplomats and refugees out of Afghanistan. He flew the plane back and forth between Islamabad in Pakistan, Kabul and Denmark. 

Availability of homes for sale at lowest point for 16 years
This winter has seen an unusually large fall in the number of homes for sale. But supply may increase with the spring getting close, reports Boligsiden, which counted 22,447 homes for sale across the country in early March – the lowest since it started collecting data in 2010. Looking further back, Arbejdernes Landsbank says the supply has not been this low since February 2006. Jeppe Juul Borre, the chief economist at the bank, points out that the supply of homes for sale has now dipped by more than 16 percent since October 2021. It is not unusual for the supply of homes for sale to fall over the winter.

Green demand helps Danfoss to secure record results 
Global demand for energy-saving products has helped Danfoss to post record results for 2021. Overall sales topped 56.1 billion kroner – an increase of 29 percent compared to 2020 – while profits rose by 45 percent to 4.7 billion. Looking ahead to 2022, Danfoss forecasts a turnover of between 66 and 73 billion kroner. The estimation includes a full year of ownership of Eaton, the hydraulics business that Danfoss acquired from the US in 2021. 

Lego posts record profits 
Lego has confirmed a record profit of 13.3 billion kroner for 2021 – up from 9.9 billion in 2020. It attributed the result to record turnover of 55.3 billion kroner. “Our passionate and committed team of more than 24,000 colleagues showed tremendous dedication and perseverance to keep the world playing,” said Lego chief executive Niels B. Christiansen. Lego wants to go even greener in 2021: both the way it makes its bricks and its packaging, which it aims to be completely sustainable by 2025.