Portrait of a Dane, anno 2008

Denmark is a land populated by an egalitarian, well-educated group of people that live well into their seventies after a life of work, at least according to the Danmark i Tal 2009 (Denmark by Numbers 2009), the annual publication that serves as a paint by number description of a nation and its people.

The publication is a treasure trove of facts and figures about Danes (5,475,791 in all) from birth (about 65,000 last year) to death (about 55,000) and everything that comes in between during their life spans (80.5 years for women and 76 years for men – about 25 years more than in 1900.)



Most of that life is lived in the 43,098 sq km territory that stretches from Skagen in the north, Gedser in the south, Christiansø in the east and Blåvandshuk in the west (excluding Greenland that is).

Most of that life is lived after a youth that now includes some form of post-secondary education for 30 percent (twice what it was in 1981) and in which most of us (97 percent) will work – or at least seek it. With unemployment at 3.4 percent, most will find it too.

When we aren't working or studying, one of the things we are doing more of is going to the cinema. After bottoming out at 10 million in the 1990s, annual ticket sales have rebounded to 12 million. And what do we see? Family films dominate the list of most seen movies from 2007. The most popular was Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (620,000 tickets). The most seen Danish movie (fifth overall) was the latest instalment in the 'Anja and Victor' romance series.

And while more people going to the movies has resulted in fewer theatre guests (down 37 percent since the early '80s) it hasn't meant fewer museum visitors (up 16 percent). Money, rather than time, could be the explanation there, as admission at national museums has been free since 2006.

It would appear however, that when it comes to art, we would rather pay to see modern art - the most visited museum (Louisiana Musuem of Modern Art – 468,000 vistiors) costs 90 kroner to get in – rather than see classical art for free at the National Gallery (425,000 visitors).

And on the subject of money, 'Denmark,' it was once said, 'is a country were few have much, and even fewer have too little'. While that egalitarian adage remains true, of the country's 2.72 million families (two parents, two children) 253,900 have under 100,000 kroner in annual disposable income, 7,200 have more than one million kroner. The largest group – 932,800 families, have between 100,000 and 199,999 kroner left over after all their bills are paid.

While the distance between richest and poorest is short in terms of income, it is also short in terms of kilometres: the wealthiest city (Rudersdal – 476,000 kroner in disposable income annually) is just a 17 minutes drive from the poorest (Copenhagen – 218,000).

Speaking of driving, there are 2 million cars in Denmark, and the highest ratio of ownership is also in Rudersdal (43 percent), while the lowest is again in Copenhagen (25 percent).

But the capital retains its position as the country's most populous city (603,000). Although its population is on the rebound after falling to 550,000 in the 1990s it still remains down from its peak of 725,000 in 1970.

The greatest portion of our household income (504,000 kroner on average) continues to go less towards essential items such as food (down from 26 percent in 1975 to 14 percent in 2007) and more towards consumer and housing related items (up from 21 percent to 26 percent) – such as the nearly 5 billion minutes of mobile phone airtime and nearly 12 billion text messages.

Historically speaking, our money is holding its value better than in the past: inflation between 1990 and 2007 fluctuated between 1 and 3 percent. By way of comparison, a kroner earned in 1970 bought as much as 6.7 kroner in 2007.

Measured as a nation, we have all become wealthier during the past eight years. With the exception of 2003, the state has run at a budget surplus, which rose to 75 billion kroner in 2007 (4.5 percent of the national budget) or 13,700 for every man, woman and child.

Another area where Denmark continues to run a surplus is on the balance of trade. Since 1987 more goods and services have been exported than imported. After peaking at 49 billion kroner in 2000, the surplus has since shrunk to 20 billion kroner, though exports have continued to rise and now stand at 551 billion kroner.

The majority (75 percent) of Denmark's exports are industrial products such as wind turbines and medicine. Other major export groups include agricultural products (primarily pork) and oil. Thanks to its North Sea oil reserves and increasing energy efficiency, Denmark has gone from importing 20 billion kroner worth of oil in the 1980s to selling 21 billion kroner abroad annually.

The majority of Denmark's exports go to Germany (17 percent), Sweden (14 percent), Great Britain (8 percent), the US (7 percent) and Norway (6 percent). Imports come from Germany (22 percent), Sweden (13 percent), the Netherlands (7 percent), China (6 percent) and Great Britain (5 percent).

And when we go abroad – using our 10.4 days of holiday per year, we're most likely to be in Spain, Italy or France.

For many of us, though, vacation doesn't require leaving the borders of the kingdom. Although Germans dominate summer house rentals (72 percent), Danes accounted for most hotel (61 percent) and campground stays (74 percent) in 2007, suggesting that when it comes right down to it, no matter what your statistical profile, home is where you take your holiday.

The Copenhagen Post