The Danish established Blue Economy sectors employ about 98 000 people and generate around €13.1 billion in GVA in 2021. The Blue Economy has a positive impact on the Danish workforce, employing about 3.4% of the national workforce. This share has increased on a year-to-year basis (3.2% in 2020), but is still far from the pre-Covid levels (4.7%). Denmark has recorded a decrease in contribution of Blue Economy sectors to the overall GVA, moving from 4.9% in 2020 to 4.4 % in 2021.
The Danish Blue Economy is dominated by Coastal tourism in terms of people employed (48% of Danish blue jobs). This share is declining over time, with pre-Covid value of 65% and 2020 value of 53%. In addition, in terms of GVA the sector only contributes to the overall national Blue Economy GVA to less than 11% in 2021. Maritime transport generates 59% of the GVA in 2021, an increase compared to 58% in 2020 and 43% in 2019.
In the EU, Denmark is the 2nd second -largest contributor in terms of GVA Maritime transport and Marine Non-living resources in 2021. It is also the most important contributor to employment within Marine Non-living resources and the 4th-most important for Maritime transport in the EU.
The busiest container ports in Denmark are: the Port of Århus (95th busiest port in the EU in terms of gross weight of goods handled), Port of Rødby (Færgehavn) (101st) and Port of Statoil-Havnen (111th).
In terms of passengers embarked and disembarked in ports, Helsingør (Elsinore) is the first ranked Danish port (ranked 14th busiest port in EU in 2021), followed by Sjællands Odde (18th) and Århus (19th).
The Danish Maritime Authority is a part of the Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs, and aims at ensuring competitiveness for the maritime cluster as well as promoting safety and health of the seas.
The Danish Government’s Climate Partnership has launched Blue Denmark with the objective of reducing CO2e emissions over the next ten years, focusing on energy efficiency, ports, shipping and governance.
For more national level data, please visit the Dashboards section within the EU Blue Economy Observatory, where you can also find information about Educational and Employment opportunities in the Blue Economy sectors.
