Relative poverty: Share of population below 40% of the median in Denmark
Denmark: Relative poverty: Share of population below 40% of the median was 2.9% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Relative poverty: Share of population below 40% of the median in Denmark, 1987–2023
Source: World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2023, relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median in Denmark stood at 2.9%.
That represents a change of down 18.4% on the previous year and down 12.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median in Denmark peaked at 4.0% in 2009 and was at its lowest, 1.7%, in 1995.
Denmark ranks 103rd of 120 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 25 years of available data.
Relative poverty: Share of population below 40% of the median in Denmark, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1987 | 3.8% | — |
| 1992 | 3.4% | -10.5% |
| 1995 | 1.7% | -50.0% |
| 2000 | 1.7% | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 2.6% | +51.2% |
| 2004 | 2.8% | +9.2% |
| 2005 | 2.8% | -0.1% |
| 2006 | 2.7% | -2.6% |
| 2007 | 2.8% | +1.4% |
| 2008 | 2.9% | +4.7% |
| 2009 | 4.0% | +36.4% |
| 2010 | 2.7% | -31.7% |
| 2011 | 3.0% | +10.7% |
| 2012 | 3.0% | -0.1% |
| 2013 | 3.3% | +10.1% |
| 2014 | 3.9% | +18.4% |
| 2015 | 3.0% | -21.9% |
| 2016 | 3.1% | +2.2% |
| 2017 | 3.4% | +9.0% |
| 2018 | 3.1% | -9.0% |
| 2019 | 2.8% | -8.1% |
| 2020 | 3.3% | +16.5% |
| 2021 | 3.1% | -6.7% |
| 2022 | 3.5% | +13.9% |
| 2023 | 2.9% | -18.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 3.8% | 3.8% | 3.8% | 1 |
| 1990s | 2.5% | 1.7% | 3.4% | 2 |
| 2000s | 2.8% | 1.7% | 4.0% | 8 |
| 2010s | 3.1% | 2.7% | 3.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 3.2% | 2.9% | 3.5% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Denmark
More poverty & inequality data for Denmark
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 8 surveys (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per person (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Fertility rate vs. share living in extreme poverty 1.51 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 6,096 kg per hectare (2024)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, annual growth rate 7.49 % change on previous year (2024)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 43.39 (2023)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 43.4% (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median in Denmark?
- Relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median in Denmark was 2.9% in 2023, according to World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median recorded in Denmark?
- The highest recorded value was 4.0% in 2009.
- What is the lowest relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median recorded in Denmark?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.7% in 1995.
- How does Denmark rank for relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median?
- Denmark ranks 103rd out of 120 countries with data for 2023.
- Is relative poverty: share of population below 40% of the median rising or falling in Denmark?
- Over the last ten years it is down 12.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Denmark data come from?
- The figures come from World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Relative poverty: Share of population below 40% of the median. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 25 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Percentage of population living in households with an income or consumption below 40% of the median.