Editing Economy of Denmark (section)

== Income, wealth and income distribution ==

Average per capita income is high in an international context. According to the [[World Bank]], [[gross national income]] per capita was the tenth-highest in the world at $55,220 in 2017. Correcting for purchasing power, income was [[Geary–Khamis dollar|Int$]]52,390 or 16th-highest among the 187 countries.<ref name=wb>{{cite web| url = http://databank.worldbank.org/data/download/GNIPC.pdf| title = Gross national income per capita 2017, Atlas method and PPP. |website=World Bank |date=21 September 2018 |access-date=28 November 2018}}</ref>

During the last three decades household [[saving rate]]s in Denmark have increased considerably. This is to a large extent caused by two major institutional changes: A series of [[tax reform]]s from 1987 to 2009 considerably reduced the effective subsidization of private debt implicit in the rules for [[tax deduction]]s of household interest payments. Secondly, compulsory funded pension schemes became normal for most employees from the 1990s.<ref name=DEC/> Over the years, the wealth of the Danish [[pension fund]]s have accumulated so that in 2016 it constituted twice the size of Denmark's GDP.<ref>{{in lang|da}} Danskernes pensionsformue er massiv. Analysis from "Dansk Metal" dated 6 November 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2018.</ref> The pension wealth consequently is a very important both for the life-cycle of a typical individual Danish household and for the national economy. A large part of the pension wealth is invested abroad, thus giving rise to a fair amount of foreign capital income. In 2015, average household assets were more than 600% of their [[disposable income]], among OECD countries second only to the Netherlands. At the same time, average household gross debt was almost 300% of disposable income, which is also at the highest level in OECD. Household [[balance sheets]] are consequently very large in Denmark compared to most other countries. Danmarks Nationalbank, the Danish central bank, has attributed this to a well-developed [[financial system]].<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.nationalbanken.dk/en/publications/themes/Pages/Household-wealth-and-debt.aspx| title = Household wealth and debt. Website of Danmarks Nationalbank, published 21 February 2014 with updates April 2017. |access-date=28 November 2018}}</ref>

===Income inequality===
{{Main|Income inequality in Denmark}}

[[Income inequality]] has traditionally been low in Denmark. According to OECD figures, in 2000 Denmark had the lowest [[Gini coefficient]] of all countries.<ref>{{in lang|da}} [https://www.fm.dk/publikationer/arbejdspapirer/2008/indkomstudvikling-og-fordeling-i-danmark-1983_2005 Indkomstudvikling og -fordeling i Danmark 1983–2005. Website of Ministry of Finance, Denmark. Dated January 2008, retrieved 1 December 2018.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181202033336/https://www.fm.dk/publikationer/arbejdspapirer/2008/indkomstudvikling-og-fordeling-i-danmark-1983_2005 |date=2 December 2018}}</ref> However, inequality has increased during the last decades. According to data from Statistics Denmark, the [[Gini coefficient]] for disposable income has increased from 22.1 in 1987 to 29.3 in 2017.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://statistikbanken.dk/IFOR41 |website=StatBank Denmark |title=Table IFOR41: Inequality indicators on equivalised disposable income by indicator and municipality. |access-date=28 November 2018}}</ref> The Danish Economic Council found in an analysis from 2016 that the increasing inequality in Denmark is due to several components: Pre-tax labour income is more unequally distributed today than before, capital income, which is generally less equally distributed than labour income, has increased as share of total income, and economic policy is less redistributive today, both because public income transfers play a smaller role today and because the tax system has become less progressive.<ref name=DECF16>{{cite web| url = https://dors.dk/vismandsrapporter/dansk-oekonomi-efteraar-2016| title = Danish Economic Council: Danish Economy Fall 2016. English Summary, p. 335f.| date = 4 October 2016}}</ref>

In international comparisons, Denmark has a relatively equal income distribution. According to the CIA World Factbook, Denmark had the twentieth-lowest Gini coefficient (29.0) of 158 countries in 2016.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/223rank.html#DA| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181128211129/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/223rank.html#DA| url-status = dead| archive-date = 28 November 2018| title = Country Comparison: Distribution of family income – Gini index. |website=The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency |access-date=28 November 2018}}</ref> According to data from [[Eurostat]], Denmark was the EU country with the seventh-lowest Gini coefficient in 2017. Slovakia, Slovenia, Czechia, Finland, Belgium and the Netherlands had a lower Gini coefficient for disposable income than Denmark.<ref name=eurostat>{{cite web| url = http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/submitViewTableAction.do| title = Gini coefficient of equivalised disposable income – EU-SILC survey. Eurostat, last data update 20 November 2018. |access-date=28 November 2018}}</ref>