Relative poverty: Share of population below 50% of the median in Denmark
Denmark: Relative poverty: Share of population below 50% of the median was 6.6% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Relative poverty: Share of population below 50% 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 50% of the median in Denmark stood at 6.6%.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 5.3% on the previous year and down 2.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median in Denmark peaked at 7.2% in 2021 and was at its lowest, 4.1%, in 1995.
Denmark ranks 108th 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 50% of the median in Denmark, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1987 | 6.0% | — |
| 1992 | 6.3% | +5.0% |
| 1995 | 4.1% | -34.9% |
| 2000 | 4.5% | +9.8% |
| 2003 | 5.7% | +27.4% |
| 2004 | 5.8% | +0.3% |
| 2005 | 5.9% | +3.3% |
| 2006 | 5.7% | -4.3% |
| 2007 | 5.4% | -5.0% |
| 2008 | 5.7% | +5.1% |
| 2009 | 6.9% | +21.1% |
| 2010 | 7.0% | +1.6% |
| 2011 | 6.4% | -8.2% |
| 2012 | 6.2% | -4.1% |
| 2013 | 6.7% | +9.2% |
| 2014 | 6.8% | +1.0% |
| 2015 | 5.9% | -12.3% |
| 2016 | 6.7% | +11.9% |
| 2017 | 6.9% | +4.0% |
| 2018 | 6.6% | -4.8% |
| 2019 | 5.9% | -10.2% |
| 2020 | 6.8% | +14.5% |
| 2021 | 7.2% | +5.6% |
| 2022 | 6.2% | -13.0% |
| 2023 | 6.6% | +5.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 6.0% | 6.0% | 6.0% | 1 |
| 1990s | 5.2% | 4.1% | 6.3% | 2 |
| 2000s | 5.7% | 4.5% | 6.9% | 8 |
| 2010s | 6.5% | 5.9% | 7.0% | 10 |
| 2020s | 6.7% | 6.2% | 7.2% | 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 50% of the median in Denmark?
- Relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median in Denmark was 6.6% 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 50% of the median recorded in Denmark?
- The highest recorded value was 7.2% in 2021.
- What is the lowest relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median recorded in Denmark?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.1% in 1995.
- How does Denmark rank for relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median?
- Denmark ranks 108th out of 120 countries with data for 2023.
- Is relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median rising or falling in Denmark?
- Over the last ten years it is down 2.5%. 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 50% 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 50% of the median.