Life expectancy at birth (years), 2021: 81.2 years
Maternal mortality ratio (per 100,000 live births), 2023: 4
Under-five mortality rate (per 1000 live births), 2023: 3.4
Neonatal mortality rate (per 1000 live births), 2023: 1.8
New HIV infections (per 1000 uninfected population), 2023: <0.01
Tuberculosis incidence (per 100,000 population), 2023: 3.6
Probability of dying from any of cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease between age 30 and exact age 70 (%), 2021: 10.7%
Suicide mortality rate (per 100,000 population), 2021: 10.5
Diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP3) immunization coverage among 1-year-olds (%), 2023: 97%
Measles-containing-vaccine second-dose (MCV2) immunization coverage by the locally recommended age (%), 2023: 93%
Pneumococcal conjugate 3rd dose (PCV3) immunization coverage among 1-year olds (%), 2023: 97%
Human papillomavirus (HPV) immunization coverage estimates among 15 year-old girls (%), 2023: 80%
Prevalence of anaemia in women aged 15-49 years (%), 2023: 17.0%
Source: World health statistics 2025: monitoring health for the SDGs, Sustainable Development Goals. Tables of health statistics by country and area, WHO region and globally. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2025. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.
Infant mortality, deaths per 1,000 live births, 2021: 2.4
Maternal mortality rate, deaths per 100,000 live births, 2020: 4.7
Congestive heart failure hospital admission in adults, age-sex standardized rate per 100,000 population, 2021: 159
Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease hospital admissions in adults, age-sex standardized rate per 100,000 population, 2021: 277
Source: OECD (2023), Health at a Glance 2023: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, doi.org/10.1787/7a7afb35-en.
“Despite relatively low economic inequality and a universal health care system, social inequality in health has increased since the 1980s. In 2016, the average length of life for men in the highest income group was 83.3 years, while it was 73.8 years for men in the lowest income group – a difference of 9.5 years; for women, the difference was 5.5 years (Sundhedsstyrelsen, 2019a).
“A comparative study of refugees in Denmark, Norway and Sweden found that refugee men in Denmark have higher risks for mortality, disability pension, psychiatric care and substance abuse than most native-born Danish men. In addition, these differences are higher than comparable estimates observed between refugee men and native-born men in Norway and Sweden. However, except for increased risk for psychotic disorders, outcomes among refugee women were similar to or better than those of native-born women in all countries (Dunlavy et al., 2023).
“Most risk factors affecting population health status in Denmark are similar to the EU average. However, the impact of tobacco use on cause of death stands out as much higher (Fig. 1.2). In Denmark, every year there are 13,600 more deaths among smokers and former smokers than among never-smokers. In addition, every year, 58,000 years of life are lost in men and 38,000 in women due to smoking. Smoking reduces average life expectancy by 3 years and 6 months in men, and by 3 years and 1 month in women (Eriksen et al., 2016).”
Source: Birk HO, Vrangbæk K, Rudkjøbing A, Krasnik A, Eriksen A, Richardson E, Smith Jervelund S. Denmark: Health system review. Health Systems in Transition, 2024; 26(1): i–152.
“Mortality rates from treatable and preventable causes in Denmark in 2020 were well below the EU averages, yet above those in other Nordic countries. Lung cancer and chronic respiratory diseases are the two leading causes of preventable mortality – a legacy of high smoking rates in previous generations. Alcohol-related deaths also account for a large number of preventable deaths.”
Source: OECD/European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (2023), Denmark: Country Health Profile 2023, State of Health in the EU, OECD Publishing, Paris/European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, Brussels.
“The steady increase in life expectancy in Denmark since 2000 has been driven by reductions in mortality rates from frequent causes of death like cancers, cardiovascular diseases and respiratory diseases (Figure 2). Despite the reductions, these remained the main causes of death in 2020. Cancer contributed to over one quarter of all deaths. Lung cancer remains the most frequent cause of death by cancer, followed by colorectal cancer. This has prompted a number of initiatives to prevent cancer (such as tobacco smoking reduction policies) and to promote better access to cancer screening and treatment (see Section 5.1).
“In 2020, COVID-19 accounted for about 2 % of all deaths in Denmark. Over 90 % of these deaths from COVID-19 were among people aged 65 and over. The broader indicator of (all-cause) excess mortality shows that excess deaths in 2020 were only about 3.5 % higher in Denmark than in the previous five years. However, excess mortality increased in 2021 (6.4 %), and rose further in 2022 (10.6 %) (Figure 3). The increase in 2022 was driven by a substantial rise in the number of deaths from COVID-19.”
Source: OECD/European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (2023), Denmark: Country Health Profile 2023, State of Health in the EU, OECD Publishing, Paris/European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, Brussels.
Danish Health System Overview
Health System Rankings
Health System Outcomes
Coverage and Access
Costs for Consumers
Health System Expenditures
Health System Financing
Preventive Healthcare
World Health Systems Facts is a project of the Real Reporting Foundation. We provide reliable statistics and other data from authoritative sources regarding health systems and policies in the US and sixteen other OECD member nations.
Page last updated July 25, 2025 by Doug McVay, Editor.