Analyses focus on current issues of particular relevance to Danmarks Nationalbank’s objectives. The analyses may also contain Danmarks Nationalbank’s recommendations. They include our projections for the Danish economy and our assessment of financial stability. Analyses are targeted at people with a broad interest in economic and financial matters.
The increasing importance of the largest companies
A modest number of large Danish companies account for an increasing share of economic activity and they have a significant impact on the Danish economy. They differ from other companies by relying more on intangible assets and operations abroad. This means that GDP can fluctuate more without increasing fluctuations in capacity utilisation accordingly. This makes it even more important to take a broad view of the economy when designing fiscal policy.
Key messages
Why is it important?
Danmarks Nationalbank works to ensure a robust Danish economy. It does so by, among other things, providing recommendations for economic policy that aim to stabilise economic activity. Much of the activity takes place in Danish companies, and the growing importance of a few large Danish companies with global production, may therefore have an impact on business cycle development. The concentration of production in the largest companies also means that a downturn for these companies can have a significant impact on the Danish economy.
Main chart
The largest companies account for an increasing share of value added, but a declining share of employment
The 25 largest companies' share of value added and employment
Note:
The chart shows the development in total value added and employment for the 25 largest companies (measured by value added) in relation to GDP and total employment. The dotted line indicates the actual shares year on year and the solid line shows the trend over time. The share in 2023 is calculated using data from Danmarks Nationalbank, as company-level data is not yet available via Statistics Denmark for 2023. Note that the value added in 2022 was particularly due to large price increases.
Source:
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Denmark and Danmarks Nationalbank.