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Skatty Skatty
Budget year
2024

Denmark 2024 expenditure

Skatty | Expenditure

Largest item

Welfare

Largest service area

Healthcare

Tracked categories

13

From revenue to surplus

Each bar shows how a spending area draws down Denmark's 2024 revenue total. The surplus at the bottom is what remains after all public expenditure.

Total revenue1,515.8 bn DKKSocial transfers−574.7 bn DKKHealthcare−243.1 bn DKKEducation−139.4 bn DKKPublic administration−85 bn DKKOther expenditure−83.2 bn DKKDefense−54 bn DKKInfrastructure and transport−53.7 bn DKKCulture and art−44.7 bn DKKJustice and public safety−28.6 bn DKKDebt-related expenditure−23.2 bn DKKStudent grants−23 bn DKKForeign aid−21 bn DKKEnvironment and climate−11.7 bn DKKBudget surplus130.5 bn DKK
Key takeaways from this chart
  • Social transfers (welfare, pensions, unemployment) are the largest single spending area.
  • Healthcare and education together account for roughly a third of all spending.
  • Denmark ran a surplus in 2024; revenue exceeded total expenditure.
  • Defense spending rose significantly, reflecting recent NATO commitments.

Proportional expenditure view

The treemap groups spending by relative size. Bigger rectangles represent a larger share of the 2024 total, while the labels highlight the categories that dominate the official accounts.

Reading this treemap
  • Each rectangle's size is proportional to its share of total public spending.
  • The largest block, social transfers, includes pensions (folkepension, ATP), sickness benefits, and unemployment support.
  • Click or tap any rectangle to see the exact amount and its share.

Category deep dives

These six cards zoom in on major expenditure areas, pairing the headline amount with the subcategories that explain what each budget line is actually funding.

🏥

Major category

Healthcare

Healthcare is Denmark’s largest service-area spend, anchored by hospitals, specialist treatment, and the everyday primary care network that keeps the system running nationwide.

Key subcategories

  • Medical products
  • Primary care
  • Hospitals
  • Public health and administration
🎓

Major category

Education

Education spending supports the full ladder of learning, from folkeskole to universities, while also funding vocational and adult upskilling pathways.

Key subcategories

  • Primary education
  • Secondary and vocational education
  • Higher education
  • Adult and continuing education
📚

Major category

SU

SU is direct income support for students, helping more people stay in education without depending entirely on work or family resources.

Key subcategories

  • Primary and lower-secondary transfers
  • Secondary and vocational transfers
  • Tertiary transfers
  • Other education transfers
🛡️

Major category

Defense

Defense outlays are rising as Denmark modernizes equipment, strengthens readiness, and invests in NATO capabilities alongside cyber and personnel needs.

Key subcategories

  • Military defense
  • Civil defense
  • Foreign military aid
  • Other defense
🎭

Major category

Culture & Art

Culture and art funding keeps public broadcasting, museums, performing arts, and grassroots cultural life accessible across the country.

Key subcategories

  • Recreation and sport
  • Cultural services
  • Broadcasting and publishing
  • Religion and other culture services
🧓

Major category

Welfare

Social transfers remain the single biggest line item, reflecting Denmark’s pension commitments and its broad safety net for families, housing, and unemployment support.

Key subcategories

  • Old-age benefits
  • Sickness and disability
  • Unemployment benefits
  • Family, housing and other transfers

SU spotlight

Student transfers are a relatively small slice of the total budget, but they have an outsized role in keeping education broadly accessible.

Statens Uddannelsesstøtte

Student transfers channel direct support to households, not only to institutions.

The sourced 2024 accounts set aside for education-related household transfers, with the biggest share going to tertiary education support.

That makes student support a visible example of Denmark’s welfare design: public spending does not just operate through services, but also through direct transfers that widen access to study.

Primary and lower-secondary transfers : Secondary and vocational transfers : Tertiary transfers : Other education transfers :

Budgeted amount

About of total public expenditure.

Largest transfer line

Official tertiary-education household transfers within the 2024 education accounts.

Monthly amount per student

Official monthly SU rate for higher-education students living away from home.