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Community pharmacies per 100,000 population, 2021: 9
Hospital beds per 1,000 population, 2021: 2.5
Average length of stay in hospital, 2021: 6.1 days
Average number of in-person doctor consultations per person, 2021: 3.8
CT scanners per million population, 2021: 44
CT exams per 1,000 population, 2021: 206
MRI units per million population, 2021: 9
MRI exams per 1,000 population, 2021: 98
PET scanners per million population, 2021: 9
PET exams per 1,000 population, 2021: 16
Share of adults aged 65 and over receiving long-term care, 2021: 14.3%
Long-term care beds in institutions and hospitals per 1,000 population aged 65 years and over, 2021
– Institutions: 37.1
– Hospitals: 0.2
Long-term care recipients aged 65 and over receiving care at home, 2021: 79%

Source: OECD (2023), Health at a Glance 2023: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, doi.org/10.1787/7a7afb35-en.

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Hospital Beds Per 1,000 Population, 2021: 2.52
Doctors Consultations (In All Settings), Number Per Capita, 2021: 3.8
Hospital Average Length of Stay (All Causes), 2016: 5.4
Computed Tomography Scanners Per Million Population, 2021: 43.66
Mammographs Per Million Population, 2021: 15.92

Source: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. OECD.Stat. Last accessed Nov. 21, 2022.

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“In 2021 counting all beds, there were 252 hospital beds per 100,000 inhabitants, a number that has declined dramatically from 420 beds per 100,000 inhabitants in 2002 (Eurostat, 2023b). In total, there were around 14,000 beds in the hospital sector in 2020 (eSundhed.dk, 2022). The number of acute somatic care hospital beds in Denmark has also declined substantially since 2000 (Fig. 4.1), reflecting a trend in almost all western European countries. In 2021, there were 190 acute somatic care hospital beds per 100,000 population (Fig. 4.1). The relative reduction in the number of beds is most significant in psychiatry, largely because of the policy of deinstitutionalization, whereby beds in long-stay psychiatric hospitals are gradually being replaced by community mental health services where patients are not living in institutions. Between 1980 and 1990, the total number of psychiatric beds was dramatically reduced from 8182 to 4906. In 2018, the number of psychiatric beds was 2677 (Danske Regioner, 2018; Sundheds- og Ældreministeriet, 2019a).”

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.

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“The inpatient average length of stay was 5.4 days in 2020 (Eurostat, 2023c) and has decreased substantially since the 1990s. This steady decline has occurred as treatments have become more effective and some nursing care has been transferred to the municipal services. A similar decline has occurred throughout the last 100 years because of changes in disease patterns and the availability of more effective treatments, among other reasons (Vallgårda & Krasnik, 2010). A focus on shortening the length of stay through policies extending free choice combined with the treatment guarantee has put pressure on the regions to optimize patient flow during admission (see Chapter 6).”

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.

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“In 2020, there were 29 organizational units across the Danish health care system, and five were psychiatric hospitals (one in each of the five regions) (see Box 4.1). The hospitals are situated across the country following population density, with the greatest number of hospitals around the capital, Copenhagen. Hospital size varies from the smallest, with around 90 beds (Bornholms Hospital), to the largest, with 1319 beds (Rigshospitalet) (eSundhed.dk, 2022).

“More than 95% of hospital beds are in public hospitals owned and operated by the five administrative regions. Each region has one or more university (teaching) hospitals with tertiary care capacity as well as district general hospitals, of which 21 are acute care hospitals.

“Hospital management is organized differently in each region, with executives having from three to six members. In addition, some of the larger hospitals are organized with centres that comprise several individual departments.

“After the structural reform of 2007, the government started a process of investing in building new hospitals and improving existing ones (popularly known as the hospital reform). The construction of the new hospitals aims to improve the provision of more consistent patient care and increase patient safety, efficiency and quality. Many current hospitals were built in the 1970s, and their condition reflects decades of intensive use. For example, a condition report from 2018 from Region Hovedstaden showed that several buildings and technical facilities in the region are in an alarmingly critical condition (Region Hovedstaden, 2018).”

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.

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“In 2021, Denmark had 2.5 hospital beds per 1,000 population, which was much lower than the EU average (4.8 per 1,000) but a greater number than in Sweden (2.0 per 1,000). The reduction in the number of beds over the past few decades was most significant in psychiatry, largely because of a policy of de-institutionalisation. Beds in psychiatric hospitals have gradually been replaced by community mental health services (see Section 6).”

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.

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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 nations.

Page last updated April 22, 2025 by Doug McVay, Editor.