Accuracy and reliability

Overall accuracy

The 'Artists in Denmark' statistics have a broad data collection foundation, providing extensive coverage. Therefore, it is assessed that the statistics are representative of the population of artists in Denmark. However, there are several sources of uncertainty related to the population of artists and the measure of income from artistic activities.

The population of artists is defined based on four data sources: members of member organizations under the Council of Danish Artists, graduates from art education programs, recipients of royalties associated with artistic activities, and recipients of grants from the Danish Arts Foundation. Consequently, there is some uncertainty regarding whether everyone in the population is indeed an artist, affecting the final count of artists in Denmark. Some organizations under the Council of Danish Artists have chosen not to contribute to data collection, introducing uncertainty and potentially leading to an underestimation of the number of artists, especially in the Film and TV artistic area.

There is also uncertainty regarding the definition of income from artistic activities, which is likely underestimated as not all income from artistic activities is included in the delineation. There is also uncertainty regarding the number of income sources, which is likely underestimated, as it cannot be precisely assessed how many income sources a person with their own business has.

In statistical database tables with time series, the 2023 population of artists is used as the reference and is retained for the entire period from 2019 to 2023. This means that variations in the total number of artists are partly due to the fact that some artists are not present in Statistics Denmark’s registers for all years. It should therefore be noted that younger artists may not have been active in earlier years, and others are not included because they were not part of the 2023 population.

Sampling error

Not relevant for this statistics.

Non-sampling error

For an assessment of other uncertainties, please refer to the list of documentations in chapter 3.4.

The reference population (2023 population) is used to compile figures for the entire period 2019–2023. This means that artists who were active in earlier years but are not included in the 2023 population are not counted, just as younger artists may not have been active throughout the entire period. This results in both undercoverage and overcoverage relative to the actual target population and may affect the figures over time.

Quality management

Statistics Denmark follows the recommendations on organisation and management of quality given in the Code of Practice for European Statistics (CoP) and the implementation guidelines given in the Quality Assurance Framework of the European Statistical System (QAF). A Working Group on Quality and a central quality assurance function have been established to continuously carry through control of products and processes.

Quality assurance

Statistics Denmark follows the principles in the Code of Practice for European Statistics (CoP) and uses the Quality Assurance Framework of the European Statistical System (QAF) for the implementation of the principles. This involves continuous decentralized and central control of products and processes based on documentation following international standards. The central quality assurance function reports to the Working Group on Quality. Reports include suggestions for improvement that are assessed, decided and subsequently implemented.

Quality assessment

The statistics describes artists in Denmark and is the first of its kind. The division of the statistics into the five artistic areas makes the data relevant for users. The statistics reflect artists in Denmark in the best possible way but will be continuously revised to achieve a more accurate definition of Danish artists and artistic income.

Data revision - policy

Statistics Denmark revises published figures in accordance with the Revision Policy for Statistics Denmark. The common procedures and principles of the Revision Policy are for some statistics supplemented by a specific revision practice.

Data revision practice

Ongoing efforts are being made to improve the statistics in order to increase the accuracy of both the population and the income from artistic work. As a result, the number of artists in the population may change over time.

The figures for 2022 were revised in June 2024. The artist population was refined by, among other things, including new recipients of rights within the field of film and television, recipients of honorary grants, and excluding members of the Danish Music Pedagogical Association, as they are no longer part of the Danish Artists' Council. Income from teaching in artistic subjects was clarified by linking the population with information on teachers at music schools.

The figures for 2022 were further revised in December 2024. The artist population was refined by including additional recipients of rights within the field of film and television. In addition, some artists have passed away or moved abroad and are therefore no longer included in the statistics.