Conor Stewart
Research expert covering health & pharmaceuticals in the UK & Europe
State of health in Denmark - statistics & facts
As of 2020, over 71 percent of Danes said they perceive themselves as being in good or very good health. A further 21 percent said they were in ‘fair’ health. Since 2009, the share of respondents in Denmark who said their health status was either good or very good has remained around the 71 percent mark. In 2021, a child born in Demark could expect to live 81.4 years on average. Females have a higher life expectancy than males, as females in Denmark had a life expectancy of around four years longer than males. Around 10.5 percent of Denmark’s GDP was spent on healthcare in 2020, about average when compared to other European countries.
Obesity in Denmark
In many developed nations obesity is a severe public health concern, and in Denmark this is no different. Obesity can make developing many health conditions more likely, such as hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers. As of 2020, around 60 percent of men and 50 percent of women in Denmark were classed as overweight or obese. According to the WHO having a body mass index of 25 or higher is defined as overweight, while a BMI greater than 30 classifies a person as obese. Furthermore, surgeries for obesity have been on the rise in Denmark since 2015.Health conditions in Denmark
In 2021, over 262 thousand people in Denmark were living with type 2 diabetes. This represents a large increase from 2008 when 146 thousand Danes had type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes can be caused by several unhealthy lifestyle factors. Furthermore, over 45 thousand new cancer cases were registered in the country during 2020. Breast cancer was the most common type of cancer diagnosed among women, while genital cancers were the most common type among men. Gastrointestinal and skin cancers were other common cancers among both genders.
