Statistical presentation

Data description

The main indicator of the wealth statistics is the Net wealth. This is calculated as the sum of the value of real estate, cars, bank deposits, shares (including unquoted shares) and pension wealth. From this is deducted debt to both public and non-public sectors. Unquoted shares and some debts to the public sector have only been part of the statistics from 2020. Thus there are two series for new wealth - with and without these two components. One is available from 2014 and the other from 2020.

Due to the obvious correlation between age and wealth, it is recommendable to use age as a background variable in most cases. Thus age are also a background variable in most publications by Statistics Denmark. Furthermore note that averages may be skewed by individuals with extreme wealth. Thus the median may in many cases be better to represent the wealth of 'ordinary' people in the selected sub-population.

In 2023 Statistics Denmark and the Danish Nationalbank has estimated payouts from aldersopsparingen, which were otherwise tax-free and thus without data on payouts. This is described in detail in Danish in the paper Estimering af aldersopsparing. In 2023 Statistics Denmark and the Danish Nationalbank has collected data on pension stocks, contributions and payouts etc. to provide an overview of growth rates and flows within the pensions system. This is described in detail in the paper New data on individual pension wealth growth

Classification system

The basic structure of the wealth components are inspired by the OECD

The data are among other disseminated by type of family, ownership of dwelling, income in intervals, socioeconomic status, educational level, municipality, age and gender.

The statbank table LABY11, 12, 14 and 15 is distributed on municipality groups.

Sector coverage

The household sector.

Statistical concepts and definitions

Median wealth: The median represents the point at which exactly half of the population has a higher wealth, while the other half has a lower wealth. In particular, for wealth, the average can be significantly skewed by individuals with large fortunes, making it less representative of the general population. The median is a good alternative when aiming for a clearer picture of typical wealth levels in the Danish population.

Net wealth: The total value of a person’s or household’s assets minus their liabilities. In wealth statistics, net wealth is the sum of the value of real astate, cars, bank deposits, stocks, investment funds, pension funds etc., minus debt. The 2020 definition of net wealth, the value of unquoted shares (shares not traded on the stock exchange) and all public debt arrears. The 2014 definition of net wealth excludes unquoted shares and the majority of public debt arrears.

Unlisted share (Wealth and liabilities): An unlisted share is a share in a limited company that is not traded on a regulated market or stock exchange. In the Wealth and liabilities statistics, the term refers to the value of company assets in public limited companies, entrepreneurial companies and private limited companies that can be allocated to individuals.

Statistical unit

The primary unit is persons supplemented with a few tables at the family level

Statistical population

The Danish population on the 31st of December in the given year.

Reference area

Denmark.

Time coverage

The statistics on wealth and debt covers 2014 and onward – the data for every year was collected on the 31st of December in the given year. A few components, mainly financial assets, public property assessments and debt are available in the income registers further back in time. See under “Comparability over time”.

Base period

Not relevant for these statistics.

Unit of measure

DKK and number of persons

Reference period

The statistics contains information on wealth and debt on the 31st of December in the given year. Census data on age, gender and family units has the same date of reference.

Frequency of dissemination

Annual

Legal acts and other agreements

Much of the data is collected via the tax authorities based on §6 in the law on Statistics Denmark. The pension data is collected based on the law of The Danish National Bank, §14 a. The statistics also provides data for EU-SILC, that is regulated by EU regulation 2019/1700 and the OECD database.

Cost and burden

The statistics are register-based, meaning there is no direct reporting burden. Most data is collected from KMD, LD, the Danish Tax Agency, the Development and Simplification Agency, and the Debt Agency. In addition, pension data is gathered from around 100 pension companies and financial institutions. These companies submit pension data to the Danish Tax Agency, which then forwards the data to Statistics Denmark. After an error-checking process, the data is shared with Denmark’s central bank. A significant amount of work is involved in ensuring that the data meets the agreed data exchange agreements, as well as the practical tasks related to organizing and transferring the data. If the data does not meet quality requirements, resubmission may be necessary. The reporting burden has not been quantified.

Comment

Additional information can be found on the website on wealth and debt or the website on pensionwealth or by contacting Statistics Denmark.

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