Denmark’s ministry of finance has cut its 2025 growth forecast by half. They’ve slashed it to only 1.4%, from the earlier estimate of 3%. The country is finding it hard to benefit from its pharmaceutical behemoth, Novo Nordisk. Sales of their blockbuster weight management drugs, including Ozempic and Wegovy, have decreased sharply due to growing public health concerns.
Novo Nordisk has been an economic saving grace for Denmark for decades. Its pharmaceutical exports, ranked as the world’s 3rd largest, have played a massive role in the nation’s success. The company attributed this drop threefold with their market share loss in the weight-loss drug market in early 2025. This abrupt turnabout resulted in an immediate, dramatic drop in Denmark’s exports to the United States. According to the economy ministry, greater competition in the weight loss market has led to this decline. A growing housing inventory glut is further complicating things.
The economy ministry in September cut its 2025 forecast by half. One big bright spot in their outlook has been the 2026 projection, raising their growth forecast from 1.4% to 2.1%. Denmark’s economy is booming, providing the showcase for Denmark’s robust health. Job market tightness and forecasts by forecasters that inflation will remain less than 2% per year.
The ministry admitted that “expansion in the first quarter of 2025 has also proven weaker than earlier projected. The American tariff increases and reduced expectations for the pharmaceutical industry have played a significant role. Consequently, experts have lowered their projections for GDP growth in 2025 by a staggering amount.
Until recently, Denmark had been one of the success stories of the European Union, sustaining strong economic growth and growing by 3.7% last year. Pharmaceutical exports were the only big factor behind this growth. With the U.S. tariffs now hanging like a Damoclean sword over Denmark’s economic prospects, the picture has taken a turn for the more risky.
Novo Nordisk’s logo prominently displayed outside its headquarters in Bagsvaerd serves as a reminder of the company’s previous impact on the economy. The Danish government now has giant problems. It has to do so through a very dangerous economic environment marked by increasing competition and external trade forces.