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Practicing pharmacists per 100,000 population, 2021: 56
Community pharmacies per 100,000 population, 2021: 9
Expenditure on retail pharmaceuticals per capita, USD PPP, 2021
– Prescription medicines: $240
– Over-the-counter medicines: $59
– Total: $299
Expenditure on retail pharmaceuticals by type of financing, 2021:
– Government/compulsory schemes: 52%
– Voluntary health insurance schemes: 0%
– Out-of-pocket spending: 48%
– Other: 0%

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

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“Denmark has a considerable and growing biopharmaceutical industry with 135 pharmaceutical companies in 2019, with several domestic companies researching and manufacturing pharmaceutical products.

“Any pharmaceutical product with marketing approval from the Danish Medicines Agency or European Medicines Agency can be distributed by community and hospital pharmacies. Denmark has three wholesalers distributing medicines to private pharmacies and other wholesalers that only distribute medicines for veterinary use. Wholesale prices are fixed through individual negotiations between the manufacturers or importers and the wholesalers; the prices are generally determined through competitive tendering.

“Community pharmacies are private entities subject to comprehensive state regulation (see Section 2.7.4). A collective financial equalization system is in place, under which pharmacies with above-average turnovers contribute to pharmacies with below-average turnovers. The Health Act states that the regions pay a share of the cost for prescription medicines that the Danish Medicines Agency has approved. Co-insurance may also be given for outpatient medicines prescribed by a doctor (see Section 3.4.1).”

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, there were 512 pharmacies and pharmacy branches (including two online pharmacies, 24 pharmacy outlets, around 350 over-the-counter sales points) and about 300 affiliated medicine delivery facilities (Danmarks Apotekerforening, 2021a). Since 2001, other outlets, such as supermarkets and kiosks, have been permitted to sell over-the-counter medicines. Since 2015, pharmacies have been given more opportunities to open branches, resulting in 67% more pharmacies opening (Danmarks Apotekerforening, 2021b). The pharmacies’ share of over-the-counter medicines was 69% in 2020, decreasing in recent years (Danmarks Apotekerforening, 2021b). In rural areas, shops under the supervision of a pharmacy are allowed to act as over-the-counter sales or medicine delivery facilities. A common app, The Pharmacy has been developed, where patients can see and ask for renewal of their prescriptions, see the stock status, prices and subsidy level and get reminders to take their medicine. A total of 83% of pharmacies offer online medicine services, and their use increased significantly due to the COVID-19 pandemic (Danmarks Apotekerforening, 2021b).

“The pharmacies sold 60 million pharmaceutical packages by prescription in 2020, equivalent to 154 000 prescriptions on average per pharmacy (or branch of a pharmacy) (Danmarks Apotekerforening, 2021b). A total of 3.6 billion daily doses of medicine were dispensed in 2020, or approximately 1.7 defined daily doses (DDDs) per day per capita (Danmarks Apotekerforening, 2021b), which has been increasing for decades. The most commonly prescribed medicines are for heart and circulatory diseases (39% of DDD), followed by diseases of the nervous system (17%) (Danmarks Apotekerforening, 2021b). The over-the-counter medicines market was worth DKK 1.6 billion in 2020 (€214.6 million), which has also been increasing for decades.”

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 total gross profits of community pharmacies are fixed by the Ministry of Health and the Danish Association of Pharmacists every 2 years based on current figures and forecasts. In 2021 this amounted to DKK 3 billion (€402.3 million). In 2020, turnover was DKK 12.7 billion (€1.7 billion), exclusive of VAT. The average total gross profit per pharmacy was DKK 25 million (€3.4 million). Prescription medicines made up 72% of the turnover of pharmacies in 2020 (Danmarks Apotekerforening, 2021b).

“In 2018, the average pharmaceutical expenditure per capita was approximately DKK 2500 (€335) (Danmarks Apotekerforening, 2021a). Pharmacies must offer customers the cheapest option (generic substitution). In 2020, pharmacies substituted a more affordable generic for the brand name prescribed by the doctor more than 21 million times. The substitution of medicines and the design of 14-day auctions (Box 5.5) means that competition in the Danish pharmaceuticals market is very strong, and prices in Denmark are among the lowest in Europe for the medicines where generics are available (Danmarks Apotekerforening, 2021b; Lægemiddelstyrelsen, 2019; Danish Competition Council, 2016; Hauschultz & Munk-Nielsen, 2017).”

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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“Denmark has a high proportion of generic and parallel import products on the market. Parallel importing of pharmaceuticals has been permitted since 1990. Generic products make up a significant proportion of the Danish usage of prescribed pharmaceuticals measured as defined daily doses.

“In 1999, the National Institute for Rational Pharmacotherapy (a part of the Danish Health Authority) was founded to guide doctors in rational prescribing. It also elaborates on treatment guidelines. Each region employs local groups of pharmacists and GPs to monitor prescription patterns and advise GPs on rational prescribing.

“Half of the prescriptions in 2020 used brand names, but the pharmacy dispensed one of these only in 6% of cases – the others were substituted. Price competition for generics manufacturers implies that they seek to be cheapest at a tender every 14 days. As pharmacies must offer customers the cheapest variant of a drug, the cheapest supplier secures almost the entire market for 14 days. This system creates fierce competition and some of Europe’s lowest prices for generics, which make up two thirds of medicines dispensed. Generic substitution reduced the potential cost of prescription medicines by DKK 3.2 billion (€429.1 million) in 2020, which is DKK 450 million (€60.3 million) more than in 2019. On average, patients save DKK 213 (€28.6) per prescribed item.”

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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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.