Over the past year, a few large Danish companies have become increasingly important to the Danish economy. The 25 largest companies' total value creation, GDP, in relation to GDP has grown from 7.6 per cent in 2009 to 12.8 per cent in 2023.
The very largest companies differ from many other companies in that they are more globally oriented, both in terms of sales markets, production and ownership. At the same time, companies have a smaller proportion of their employees within Denmark's borders and a greater use of e.g. patents compared to other large Danish companies.
"The ability for companies to produce abroad enables them to adapt to demand with relatively small changes in the number of their employees in Denmark compared to other large companies," said Governor Ulrik Nødgaard.
Concentration in a few large companies can therefore affect the fluctuations in Danish GDP without affecting employment to the same extent.
"The few large global companies affect to a lesser extent the 'temperature' in the economy than their share of value added would immediately imply – that is, whether we have too much or too little domestic activity," said Ulrik Nødgaard and elaborated:
"Factors other than GDP can therefore provide a better picture of the current pressures in the Danish economy. Developments in the labour market have become an even more important indicator when assessing whether the economy is too 'hot' or too 'cold'. This is central to the planning of the economic policy."
The presentation can be found below (in English only). In addition, you can read Danmarks
Nationalbank's latest analysis on the importance of large Danish companies for the Danish economy here.
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