Country profile · Northern Europe
Denmark
Denmark has 6.0 million people (2025) and the 9th highest GDP per person in the world. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, a Social Democrat, has led the government since 2019. On September 22, 2026 Denmark and Greenland signed a defense agreement with the United States, after nearly two years of President Trump's demands to take over Greenland.
Where Denmark ranks
All rankings →Which alliances is Denmark in?
All alliances →How does Denmark vote at the UN?
Denmark's voting record →Share of recorded UN General Assembly votes on which Denmark and each country voted the same way, 2025.
Who runs Denmark?
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen runs Denmark. King Frederik X has been head of state since January 14, 2024, but has no political power. Frederiksen has led the Social Democrats since 2015 and became prime minister in June 2019. She called an early election in February 2026, after her stand against President Trump over Greenland lifted her party in the polls. At the election on March 24 the Social Democrats won 38 seats, 12 fewer than in 2022. It was their worst result since 1903. Forming a government took 69 days, the longest since at least 1953. Her third government is a coalition of four parties with 82 of the 179 seats (chart), so it needs two left-wing parties to pass laws. Frederiksen was born in Aalborg in 1977. She was elected to parliament at 24 and became Denmark's youngest prime minister at 41.
- Social Democrats, Green Left, Moderates and Social Liberals (the government) 82
- Red-Green Alliance and The Alternative (support parties) 16
- Opposition parties, independents and the four Greenland and Faroe Islands seats 81
Photo (2025): Frédéric Sierakowski, European Union, Wikimedia Commons, free with attribution (cropped)
Who are Denmark's allies and rivals?
Denmark is a founding member of NATO (1949) and joined the European Community in 1973. In a 2022 referendum it dropped its opt-out from EU defense cooperation, but it still uses the krone, not the euro. The United States is its main military ally, and since 2025 US forces have had access to three Danish air bases. US pressure over Greenland has strained the alliance. In December 2025 Danish military intelligence listed the United States as a potential security concern for the first time. In a March 2026 poll, 9% of Danes saw the US as their closest ally, down from 34% in 2024. Russia is the rival. Tankers of Russia's shadow fleet, under EU sanctions, passed through Danish waters 292 times in 2025. On September 14, 2026 a Russian warship fired flares at a Danish military helicopter in the Baltic.
Allies and partners
United StatesNATO ally; Greenland deal signed September 2026
GermanyLargest trading partner, only land border
SwedenBridge across the Øresund since 2000
NorwayNordic ally; its gas crosses Denmark to Poland
United KingdomLeads the Joint Expeditionary Force; Denmark co-founded it
UkraineMost military aid relative to GDP
Rivals
RussiaShadow fleet in the straits, flares in 2026
- Skagen anchorage Denmark inspects tankers here. By August 2025, 79 checked and 4 detained.
- Great Belt Only route out of the Baltic for fully laden tankers from Russia's ports near St Petersburg.
- Øresund Strait between Denmark and Sweden, too shallow for the largest tankers. Bridge opened in 2000.
- Bornholm Danish island in the Baltic. A ship's anchor cut its power cable to Sweden in February 2022.
- Denmark
- Partner
- Rival
Who does Denmark trade with?
Germany is Denmark's largest trading partner (chart). It bought 14.1% of Denmark's goods exports in 2025 and supplied 19.5% of its imports. Denmark exported DKK 982 billion of goods in 2025 and imported DKK 906 billion. Medicines were the largest export, at 19.3% of goods exports. Novo Nordisk, which makes Ozempic and Wegovy, had sales equal to 8.3% of Danish GDP in 2023. Its shares have fallen about 74% since June 2024, after Eli Lilly overtook it in the US market. Counting services and goods that Danish companies make abroad, the United States was Denmark's largest market in 2025, with 17.4% of exports. Sea transport, led by Maersk, the world's second-largest container line, made up 16.1% of all exports. Wind produced about 60% of Denmark's electricity in 2025. The economy grew 3.5% in 2025, and the government forecasts 3.7% for 2026.
Sells to
Share of Denmark's exports
- Germany14.1%
- Sweden8.9%
- United States7.3%
Netherlands6.0%- Norway6.0%
China5.6%
Goods, 2025. Shares of Denmark's exports and imports by country, border-crossing basis, Statistics Denmark table SITC2R4 (September 2026).
How strong is Denmark's military?
Denmark spent $14.9 billion on its military in 2025, 3.3% of GDP (chart). By NATO's count, spending was 1.3% of GDP in 2021 and will be about 3.5% in 2026. The government plans DKK 22 billion more for 2027 and aims to meet NATO's 3.5% core target by 2030, five years early. The armed forces have about 18,000 personnel. Conscription now lasts 11 months, and since July 2025 it applies to women. Denmark has ordered 43 F-35 fighter jets. It retired its last F-16s in January 2026 and pledged 19 of them to Ukraine. In September 2025 it chose the Franco-Italian SAMP/T over the American Patriot for long-range air defense, in a DKK 58 billion program, its largest arms purchase. Two Arctic agreements in 2025, worth DKK 42 billion together, pay for new Arctic ships, long-range drones, patrol aircraft and a new Arctic Command headquarters in Nuuk.
Military spending as a share of GDP, NATO members in northern Europe and the US, 2025
Full ranking →
Poland4.5%
Estonia3.4%- Norway3.3%
- Denmark3.3%
- United States3.1%
Finland2.6%- Sweden2.5%
- United Kingdom2.4%
- Germany2.3%
- Netherlands2.2%
SIPRI Military Expenditure Database, 2026 edition
Why does the United States want Greenland?
President Trump says the United States needs Greenland for its national security. Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark but governs itself. It is about 50 times the size of Denmark and had 56,740 people in January 2026, most of them Inuit. US forces have used the island under a 1951 defense agreement. Pituffik Space Base, in the far north, watches for missile attacks. President Truman offered Denmark $100 million in gold for Greenland in 1946. On January 9, 2026 President Trump said: "We are going to do something on Greenland whether they like it or not." The agreement signed on September 22, 2026 keeps Greenland Danish. It lets the US open two new defense areas, at Narsarsuaq and Mestersvig, and bars bases of countries outside NATO. The parliaments of Greenland and Denmark must still approve it. In a 2025 poll, 85% of Greenlanders said they did not want to join the United States.