Denmark: What Labour Market Exclusion Costs the State
What it costs the state in disability and sickness benefits when people are kept out of work, compared across European countries.
Country Profile
Direct benefit payments
Statistics Denmark, table ESSPROS1 (2024) — disability cash benefits (excluding private insurance pensions) plus sygedagpenge · 2024
→ Disability pension
Statistics Denmark, table ESSPROS1 (2024) — førtidspension incl. supplements (DKK 54.4bn) · 2024
→ Sickness benefit
Statistics Denmark, table ESSPROS1 (2024) — sygedagpenge (DKK 14.6bn) · 2024
Local currency: DKK 101.8bn
Per working-age adult
€3,598
Context
Covers førtidspension (early disability pension) and other public disability cash benefits, plus sygedagpenge (sickness benefit). Disability pensions paid by private pension funds and insurers (DKK 9.0bn) are excluded.
Methodology
Public cash benefits for disability and sickness, 2024. Lost tax revenue, healthcare, social care and employment-programme costs are not included. Converted at the Eurostat 2024 average rate (DKK 7.4589 per EUR). Share of GDP uses Eurostat GDP for 2024; per working-age adult means per person aged 15–64 (Eurostat, 1 January 2024).
In Practice
A real organisation putting this into practice.
107,000 people in paid work — thanks to a Danish wage subsidy
107,000 people in Fleksjob · Record high in 2023
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