Denmark’s retail sector is undergoing an impressive transformation. Adjusted for inflation, retail spending jumped 1.3% from October to November, a strong month-to-month rebound after nearly a year of soft year-over-year growth in 2025. Consumer spending has jumped up in the weeks after Black Friday. This once-in-a-lifetime event will continue to artificially inflate consumer spending on several necessary categories.
This increase in retail spending has been largely driven by increased purchase of clothing, furniture and jewellery. Together, their demand has spurred a significant jump in new overall retail activity. Consumer confidence remains low, despite the overall positive picture. This indicates that households are beginning to tentatively convert robust growth in real household incomes into more vigorous growth in discretionary spending.
Spending without regard to energy increased by 0.9% in November over October. This overall increase takes into consideration seasonality and inflation adjustments. This increase was driven by higher consumption in retail trade and services. This encouraging trend points to a larger overall rebound in the retail landscape.
This year, Black Friday was the biggest example of that, performing extraordinarily well. It strung together year-over-year gains across several spending categories, with the exception of sporting goods. Retail spending in nominal terms, with grocery sales removed, is up 5.4% from last year. This increase demonstrates that shoppers were willing to open their wallets during this critical retail period.
Not all sectors experienced growth. Expenditures for arts, entertainment and recreation like movie theaters, performing arts and concerts plummeted after months of meteoric growth earlier this summer. Consumers remain tentative when it comes to discretionary spending. This decline underscores their unwillingness, despite an increase in overall retail spending.
On one hand, that’s good news – real spending growth is finally showing signs of an upturn as we grew 1.3% since the beginning of the year. While much improvement is still needed, this upward trend is a very good sign and particularly noteworthy given the many years in which spending was essentially stagnant. Analysts predict that the spike in retail traffic indicates a fundamental change in consumer habits. Additionally, real income growth is beginning to reach households.