Employment trends have remained robust.

Employment has grown every quarter since the

beginning of 2013, expanding by an estimated 2 % in 2017. In 2016, the employment rate
reached 77.4 %, above Denmark’s average of 76.8 %.Employment has been driven mainly by
the private sector.

Add on: Shortages of skilled labour are emerging as a significant challenge for Denmark.
The overall shortage remains well below the pre-crisis level, but bottlenecks are starting to
appear in sectors, such as construction, information and communication technology and
services. At the same time, lower employment rates can be observed for those on the margins
of the labour market and improving the inclusion of vulnerable groups such as migrants, young
people and people with reduced work capacity and disabilities remains a key challenge.
Denmark has a low level of income inequality. Overall economic growth has been inclusive,
with household income growing faster than GDP between 2010 and 2017 and favourable
developments in employment and social indicators. The income of the richest 20 % of
households remained 4.1 times greater than that of the poorest 20 % in 2016. The distribution of
household net wealth is impacted by unequal ownership of housing assets combined with
steeply increasing house prices, particularly in Copenhagen.
Consumer price inflation remains low, but is expected to pick up. index of consumer prices
rose by 1.1 % in 2017 as a result of increasing core and energy inflation and again in 2018 it
reduced to 0.814 from 1.147.

Denmark’s economy is in a solid upswing. Real GDP growth accelerated from 0.2 % in 2012
to an estimated 2.1 % in 2017 and the Commission’s 2018 winter forecast projects it at 2.0 % in
2018. Real GDP has been growing faster than its potential growth estimates since 2013. As a
result, the output gap has narrowed to around -1 % of potential GDP in 2017

Add on: Exports, private consumption and investment have been the main drivers of
growth. Exports’ growth contribution has been rising as economic growth in Denmark’s main
trading partners strengthened and world trade resumed. Private consumption has been
supported by a steady rise in disposable incomes and employment. and overall households
have increased their savings rate. Particularly indebted households’ consumption still remain
subdued even almost ten years after the crisis, because have been focusing their efforts to
reduce their debt (Hviid and Kuchler, 2017).
Investment as a proportion of GDP has been increasing steadily since 2011. It hovered around
the EU average until 2008, but took a severe hit in the crisis (and the subsequent housing bust).
Investment has recovered since the low of 2011 and is estimated to have reached 20.1 % of
GDP in 2017 Supported by dynamically rising house prices, dwelling investment has been the
main driver of investment growth since 2013. Dwelling investment has increased its share from
3.7 % of GDP in 2013 to an estimated 4.5 % of GDP in 2017, while other categories of
investment remained stable in proportion of GDP.