The Kingdom of Denmark is located in Northern Europe near fellow Nordic countries Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Another strategic trading partner, economic powerhouse Germany, shares Denmark’s southern border.

Although relatively small with a population of 5.84 million residents, Denmark is the world’s 53rd richest economy. Denmark’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on a Purchasing Power Parity basis was US$370.3 billion at October 2021.

Danish is Denmark’s official language. About 86% of Danes speak English as their second language. English is a mandatory educational subject in Denmark starting from elementary school.

Denmark’s demand for imported consumer goods in 2020 resulted in a subtotal US$47 billion worth of Danish spending on the 100 most valuable consumer imports identified in this article.

That consumer-driven dollar amount translates to 48.5% of the overall value of all goods imported into Denmark. Spending on all Danish imports, including raw materials, intermediate products and semi-finished goods, totaled an estimated overall $96.8 billion in 2020.

Among Denmark’s most valuable imported consumer products in 2020 are: cars; medications; computers including optical readers; phone devices including smartphones; and processed petroleum oils.

Spending on all of Denmark’s imported goods declined by -0.4% from 2019 to 2020. Denmark’s purchases focused on its top 100 consumer imports increased in value by 1.2% over the latest annual period.

The deceleration in Danish spending for key imported consumer products was much less than the global average from 2019 to 2020, which was an average drop of -8.2% for all importing countries around the world.

Among the top 100 consumer products imported by Denmark, 50 increased in total value from 2019 to 2020 whereas the other 50 declined. Changes in Danish consumer demand for essential imports offer future opportunities for international suppliers who correctly anticipate which upward or downward trends will continue.

Consumer Products Defined

Economics educator BoyceWire defines a consumer product as a final good or end product that a business creates for consumers to buy. For example, consumers often purchase refined petroleum oil at the gas station while imported crude oil is an intermediate good subject to further processing before being sold to end users.

Although there may be a few wealthy individual buyers, products like turbojets are excluded from the consumer products targeted by this study. That is because turbojets are usually purchased by corporations. In contrast, it is common for a consumer to buy a motorcycle.

Types of Consumer Products

This article focuses on 3 distinct consumer product types.

Convenience Products are easy to access, non-durable, have relatively lower prices and therefore consumers frequently purchase them. Examples of convenience products are food, alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks, and soap.

Shopping Products are not as easily available, involve more time to make a buying decision, are durable and are not bought as often as most convenience products. A great example of a shopping product is a mobile phone where buying the wrong model is a much more expensive mistake than buying a disappointing loaf of bread.

Speciality Products describe another consumer product type. This grey area includes infrequently purchased, expensive, durable and sometimes rare items. Consumers may consider the product’s brand image when making their purchase decisions. Some examples of speciality products are gold, silver, diamonds, jewelry, and branded refrigerators and dishwashers.

Denmark’s Most Valuable Imported Convenience Products

The list below showcases the most valuable imported convenience products on which buyers in Denmark spent the most. Items were selected at the four-digit Harmonized System tariff classification code level and are presented in descending order.

You can also peruse the greatest increases or decreases in product values from 2019 to 2020 by focusing on the percentages displayed to the right of each product name.

Medications: US$3,758,315,000 (up 19.3%)
Processed petroleum oils: $1,558,315,000 (down -45.7%)
Whole fish (fresh): $966,124,000 (down -4.7%)
Wine: $793,487,000 (up 8.3%)
Petroleum gas: $650,199,000 (up 171.6%)
Miscellaneous plastic items: $601,275,000 (up 12.3%)
Plastic packing goods, lids, caps: $596,703,000 (up 8.3%)
Fuel wood, wood chips, sawdust: $512,303,000 (down -19.2%)
Fresh or chilled beef: $429,332,000 (down -2%)
Whole fish (frozen): $419,323,000 (down -2.7%)
Bread, biscuits, cakes, pastries: $402,658,000 (up 6.5%)
Cheese, curd: $394,578,000 (up 2.9%)
Other food preparations: $376,041,000 (up 5.1%)
Crustaceans (including lobsters): $351,393,000 (up 11%)
Preserved/prepared meat: $342,306,000 (down -5.2%)
Chocolate, other cocoa preps: $333,356,000 (up 9.2%)
Fish fillets, pieces: $318,462,000 (down -3.7%)
Prepared crustaceans, molluscs: $308,849,000 (down -13.4%)
Medication mixes not in dosage: $280,775,000 (up 81.6%)
Other organic cleaning preparations: $249,888,000 (up 16.1%)
Tissues, napkins, toilet paper: $220,578,000 (down -4.8%)
Miscellaneous live plants: $216,509,000 (up 9.6%)
Poultry meat: $195,492,000 (down -5.3%)
Alcohol (including spirits, liqueurs): $181,466,000 (down -17%)
Coffee: $172,867,000 (up 2.4%)
Swine meat: $172,711,000 (up 5.2%)
Other fresh/chilled vegetables: $164,884,000 (up 7.3%)
Fish, caviar (preserved/prepared): $161,795,000 (down -0.2%)
Palm oil: $157,677,000 (up 0.2%)
Sauces/condiments/seasoning: $154,593,000 (up 4.9%)
Fruit and vegetable juices: $146,317,000 (down -1.4%)
Salted/dried/smoked offal, flours: $145,692,000 (down -5.1%)
Table/kitchen/toiletry plastic wares: $142,048,000 (down -11.6%)
Waters with added sugar: $141,061,000 (up 6.4%)
Vegetable saps, extracts: $135,853,000 (up 8.3%)
Fresh/dried flowers: $132,702,000 (up 8.3%)
Sugar confectionery (no cocoa): $125,335,000 (down -7.4%)
Prepared vegetables (non-frozen): $122,340,000 (up 5.4%)
Sausages, similar goods: $121,654,000 (up 2.7%)

Convenience products led by the products listed above represent the European country’s second-most popular import product type attracting Denmark’s international spending behind shopping products but ahead of speciality goods.

Non-durable consumer products are goods that are not re-used once consumed. Alcoholic beverages and bananas are examples of non-durable goods. Convenience products are uniquely non-durable consumer products.

Denmark’s Most Valuable Imported Shopping Products

Below, the list highlights the most valuable imported shopping products on which buyers in Denmark spent the greatest amounts. Items were selected at the four-digit Harmonized System tariff classification code level and are presented from highest to lowest total amounts.

The percentages displayed to the right of each product name reveal the highest increases or decreases in Danish spending on that specific type of shopping product from 2019 to 2020.

Cars: US$4,731,062,000 (down -3.3%)
Computers, optical readers: $2,710,137,000 (up 25.9%)
Phones: $2,467,005,000 (up 8.2%)
Miscellaneous furniture: $1,030,726,000 (up 9.6%)
Automobile parts/accessories: $848,035,000 (down -4.1%)
Electrical converters/power units: $810,135,000 (up 10.1%)
Trucks: $790,613,000 (down -16.1%)
Seats (not barber/dentist chairs): $768,922,000 (up 5.8%)
Women’s clothing (not knit/crochet): $739,942,000 (down -8.1%)
Jerseys, pullovers (knit or crochet): $637,358,000 (down -5.2%)
Men’s suits (unknit/non-crochet): $583,245,000 (down -2.7%)
Miscellaneous iron or steel items: $575,939,000 (up 7.3%)
Lower-voltage switches, fuses: $494,313,000 (down -3.2%)
Microphones/headphones/amps: $484,106,000 (up 7.7%)
Insulated wire/cable: $481,362,000 (down -3%)
Trailers: $470,903,000 (down -5.8%)
Footwear (leather): $454,478,000 (down -12.8%)
T-shirts, vests (knit or crochet): $442,538,000 (down -8%)
Printing machinery: $430,737,000 (up 4.1%)
Hot-rolled iron/non-alloy steel items: $415,188,000 (down -10.3%)
Miscellaneous toys: $343,608,000 (down -11.6%)
Orthopedic appliances: $327,777,000 (down -2.5%)
Rubber tires (new): $323,040,000 (down -4.3%)
Women’s clothing (knit or crochet): $307,057,000 (down -2.5%)
Miscellaneous textile items: $305,760,000 (up 163.5%)
Computer parts, accessories: $296,050,000 (down -6.4%)
Screws, bolts, washers, hooks, pins: $284,641,000 (down -3.9%)
Packaged insecticides, herbicides: $284,470,000 (up 2.3%)
Tractors: $274,487,000 (up 12%)
Cases, handbags, wallets: $263,365,000 (down -14.9%)
Sports equipment: $254,682,000 (up 12.6%)
Footwear (textile): $252,001,000 (down -9.6%)
Paper containers, cellulose wadding: $250,172,000 (down -0.8%)
Felt, other non-woven garments: $245,262,000 (up 80.3%)
Women’s coats (unknit/non-crochet): $243,687,000 (down -2.8%)
Mattresses, quilts: $237,160,000 (up 2.4%)
Women’s shirts (not knit or crochet): $213,139,000 (down -13.6%)
Video console games, table games: $192,600,000 (down -8.5%)
Men’s coats (unknit/non-crochet): $184,618,000 (down -12.5%)
Unrecorded sound media: $179,443,000 (up 8.9%)
Vulcanized rubber items: $158,943,000 (up 3.6%)
Motorcycles: $152,957,000 (up 17.9%)
Linens: $148,633,000 (down -8.5%)
Vulcanized rubber apparel: $145,055,000 (up 151.2%)
Motorcycle parts/accessories: $135,322,000 (down -3.6%)
Men’s shirts (not knit/crochet): $125,598,000 (down -15.9%)
Hair preparations: $123,576,000 (up 4%)

Focusing on the scope of this analysis, shopping products is Denmark’s most popular category ahead of both convenience products and speciality items.

Shopping products approached half (47) of the overall top 100 Danish imported consumer goods.

Durable consumer products are goods like cars, refrigerators and furniture that last a relatively long time. Consumers can put durable products to use again and again. Note that shopping products and speciality products are considered as durable consumer products.

Denmark’s Most Valuable Imported Speciality Products

Speciality products represent the category with the fewest entries among Denmark’s imports that attracted the country’s spending on imported consumer goods during 2020.

Selected at the four-digit Harmonized System tariff classification code level, the most valuable speciality items are listed in descending order below.

The percentage to the right of each product name reveal highest increases or decreases in 2020 compared to 2019.

Liquid pumps: US$493,402,000 (up 8.2%)
Refrigerators, freezers: $492,684,000 (up 8%)
Electric water heaters, hair dryers: $421,818,000 (up 14.3%)
Temperature-change machines: $356,749,000 (up 15.8%)
Beauty/makeup/skin care: $322,238,000 (down -6.1%)
Household base metal mountings: $264,095,000 (up 7.9%)
Dishwash, clean/dry/fill machines: $240,742,000 (down -0.4%)
Electric generating sets, converters: $221,158,000 (down -35.7%)
Electric storage batteries: $201,251,000 (up 8.4%)
Vacuum cleaners: $184,306,000 (up 23.2%)
Other printed pictures, photos: $131,352,000 (down -4.2%)
Fertilizer mixes: $130,008,000 (up 30%)
Air conditioners: $123,419,000 (down -3.1%)
Nitrogenous fertilizers: $121,782,000 (down -12.4%)

Like shopping products, speciality products are considered as durable consumer products.

Based on the product types identified in the sections above, 61 of Denmark’s 100 highest-value consumer shopper plus speciality products are durable while the remaining 39 convenience products are classified as non-durable.

Denmark’s Overall Fastest-Growing Consumer Imports

Listed below are the top 10 consumer products imported into Denmark that experienced the highest percentage increases in spending from 2019 to 2020.

Petroleum gas: Up 171.6% (US$650.2 million)
Miscellaneous textile items: Up 163.5% ($305.8 million)
Vulcanized rubber apparel: Up 151.2% ($145.1 million)
Medication mixes not in dosage: Up 81.6% ($280.8 million)
Felt, other non-woven garments: Up 80.3% ($245.3 million)
Fertilizer mixes: Up 30% ($130 million)
Computers including optical readers: Up 25.9% ($2.7 billion)
Vacuum cleaners: Up 23.2% ($184.3 million)
Medications: Up 19.3% ($3.8 billion)
Motorcycles: Up 17.9% ($153 million)

Two among the above top 10 gainers are speciality products and therefore also durable good that consumers can re-use over time. Those speciality products are fertilizer mixes and vacuum cleaners.

There are 5 fastest-growers that we categorize as imported shopping products. These are miscellaneous textile items, vulcanized rubber apparel, felt or other non-woven garments, computers including optical readers, and motorcycles.

The remaining 3 front-runners are labeled as one-time usage (non-durable) imported convenience products. These growth leaders are petroleum gas, medication mixes not in dosage, and other medications.

Denmark’s Overall Worst-Declining Consumer Imports

Spending by import buyers in Denmark on the following 10 items decreased in value by the highest percentages from 2019 to 2020.

Processed petroleum oils: Down -45.7% ($1.6 billion)
Electric generating sets, converters: Down -35.7% ($221.2 million)
Fuel wood, wood chips, sawdust: Down -19.2% ($512.3 million)
Alcohol (including spirits, liqueurs): Down -17% ($181.5 million)
Trucks: Down -16.1% ($790.6 million)
Men’s shirts (not knit nor crocheted): Down -15.9% ($125.6 million)
Cases, handbags, wallets: Down -14.9% ($263.4 million)
Women’s shirts (not knit nor crocheted): Down -13.6% ($213.1 million)
Preserved/prepared crustaceans, molluscs: Down -13.4% ($308.8 million)
Leather footwear: Down -12.8% ($454.5 million)

Five categories among Denmark’s top 10 severest decliners are durable shopping products used over a period of time. The severest slippages among those categories were for Denmark’s imported trucks; unknitted and non-crocheted men’s shirts; cases, handbags and wallets; unknitted and non-crocheted women’s shirts; and leather footwear.

There were 4 items categorized as convenience products among Denmark’s 10 major import decliners from 2019 to 2020, namely processed petroleum oils; spirits and liqueurs; fuel wood, wood chips and sawdust; and preserved or prepared crustaceans and molluscs. The worst decline among durable speciality goods was the product category titled electric generating sets and converters.

Key Product Suppliers by Country

The following analysis reveals competitive suppliers that target demand for 5 of Denmark’s top consumer import products.

Denmark’s biggest imported consumer product by value is cars. The other 4 leading consumer goods imported into Denmark are medications, computers, phone devices including smartphones, and processed petroleum oils.

Below, you will find major supplying countries for Denmark’s imported:

Cars: Germany (45.2% of total), Sweden (18.1%), Belgium (8%), Czech Republic (7.7%), France (6.8%), South Korea (3.5%), United Kingdom (3%), Spain (2.2%), Italy (1.7%), and Netherlands (1.2%).

Medications: Germany (13.6% of total), Czech Republic (8.8%), Netherlands (7.8%), Sweden (5.6%), Ireland (5.2%), France (4.6%), Italy (4.4%), Switzerland (3.6%), Spain (2.9%), and Hungary (2.8%).

Computers: Germany (25.6% of total), Netherlands (24.8%), Sweden (24.6%), Czech Republic (4.7%), China (4.6%), Ireland (2.9%), United States (2.6%), United Kingdom (1.59%), Hungary (1.55%), and Poland (1.4%).

Phone devices including smartphones: Sweden (52.2% of total), Netherlands (21.3%), United Kingdom (5.7%), China (4.8%), Germany (3.9%), Czech Republic (1.4%), Thailand (1.2%), Finland (1.14%), Ireland (1.11%), and France (1%).

Processed petroleum oils: Sweden (27.9% of total), Russia (14%), Norway (11%), Netherlands (9.1%), Qatar (8.3%), Belgium (5.7%), United Kingdom (5.2%), Germany (3.27%), Finland (3.25%), and Kuwait (2.8%).

References

Independent insights and analysis presented in this article are based on researched facts and statistics sourced from the following educational portals.

BoyceWire, Consumer Goods Definition.

Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook: Denmark Economy.

International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Databases.

International Trade Centre, Trade Map.

Investopedia, Consumer Goods, Consumer Staples Definition, Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG).

Richest Country Reports, Top 100 Richest Countries by GDP.

Trading Economics, Denmark Consumer Spending.

Wikipedia, List of largest consumer markets.

Wikipedia, Denmark, Geography of Denmark, Languages of Denmark.

World’s Top Exports, Denmark’s Top 10 Imports.