Denmark  

Inflation rates are very low in Denmark, indicating high levels of price stability. The banking sector is amongst the most efficient as non-performing loans and delinquency rates remain low. Danes have a very high rate of employment and access to a high level of physical capital used to produce goods and services, ranking the country at 13th on capital stock. However, foreign direct investment remains low at 4% of GDP. Denmark ranks 16th out of 104 countries in its unemployment rate, having experienced a significant decline in unemployment since 2000. Denmark has strong terms of trade with its partners, ranking the country 17th on this variable.

Barriers to entry in terms of the number of procedures required to start a business are close to the global minimum at three. The level of internet infrastructure as measured by secure internet servers, bandwidth, and number of personal computers per population is high and lies in the global top 10. R&D expenditure is also high, with Denmark ranking amongst the top five, suggesting a healthy innovation-based economy. ICT and hightech exports are moderately high, ranking the country in the top 25 on these variables.

Danish citizens enjoy unconstrained freedom to participate in political processes, express their beliefs, and associate themselves with political organisations without ramifications for personal security. Competition between rival political parties is fully permitted for elections to both the executive and legislative branches and judicial decision-making occurs in total independence of political interference. Constraints on executive power are moderately high, preventing arbitrary alterations to policy. The state enjoys high levels of political stability, with the last fundamental change to the political system having occurred more than 60 years ago.

Denmark’s high ranking in the education sub-index is a result of high overall education standards across almost all factors. Denmark has the lowest number of pupils per teacher at 10 to 1 in primary education and is amongst the top three countries with respect to enrolment rates in secondary education. Tertiary enrolment rates are also very high at 80%, placing this nation 7th overall according to this factor. The Danish education system has exceeded gender parity, with 101 girls to every 100 boys enrolled in school. Denmark’s workforce is relatively well educated with moderately high levels of secondary and tertiary education per worker – the country ranks in the top 20 on both variables. However, Denmark ranks 35th in primary enrolment, having recently experienced a decline in these rates. Denmark has the second highest expenditure per student in primary and secondary education.

Denmark obtains the highest possible score on access to sanitation facilities and obtains the third lowest value in terms of prevalence of undernourishment. Health-adjusted life expectancy is also high at 70 years, placing Denmark in the top 20 countries in this measure. Compared to global standards, Denmark does moderately well on the number of doctors, with 36 doctors or nurses per 10,000 people, but barely makes it into the top 40 for the number of hospital beds. This does not seem to impact the overall health of Danish society, with 85% of survey respondents claiming to be satisfied with their overall health.* Other subjective measures of health illustrate a different story: a quarter of respondents indicate health problems, only two-thirds report that they are well rested and one in five suffer from pain, placing Denmark in the 65th, 56th, and 24th rank, respectively.* Some 96% of the population are satisfied with the quality of water.*

Incidents of state-sponsored violence and political terror – such as torture, disappearances, political imprisonment – are extremely low. Only one percent of respondents reported being assaulted and 10% reported having property stolen in 2008.* Approximately 84% of respondents feel safe walking alone at night* and this sense of security may be bolstered by an exceedingly low homicide rate of approximately one per 100,000 persons that earns Denmark a spot in the top 10 on this variable.

Denmark benefits from a very efficient and high quality civil service that facilitates effective implementation of policies. Respect for property rights, the sophistication of the judiciary system, and the quality of legal enforcement place Denmark in the top three with respect to rule of law, regulatory quality, and effectiveness of governance. Slightly more than a quarter of respondents express concern about business corruption, and 19% deem the government corrupt.* Almost nine out of 10 people have confidence in the judicial system while 89% believe in honesty of elections. On the latter variable Denmark ranks second.*

Danish citizens enjoy the greatest satisfaction with freedom of choice in their daily activities of any country surveyed, with 96% reporting they are happy with their freedom to choose what to do with their lives.* Citizens also have unconstrained freedom to exercise and practise their religious beliefs, speak freely without fear of government censorship, and travel freely within and out of their own country. More than eight out of 10 citizens feel that Denmark is a good place for ethnic minorities and immigrants to live.*

In Denmark social supports are strong; approximately 96% of respondents believe that they can rely on family and friends.* Danish citizens place high trust in others and find their friends very important to their daily lives. While Denmark is ranked in the top 10 for the percentage of people that donate money, a lower proportion of respondents claimed to have helped strangers – 66% and 49%, respectively.* In terms of volunteering time to organisations, 22% of respondents did so in the previous month, placing Denmark at 41st out of 104 countries.* Among developed countries, Denmark is the most secular, ranking 94th on the self-reported religiosity variable.*

* Data taken from the Gallup World Poll

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