Denmark Economy Contracts Most In Almost 4 Years

(RTTNews) - The Danish economy contracted at the steepest pace in nearly four years in the first quarter, mainly due to a decline in both transport and industry, preliminary data from Statistics Denmark showed on Tuesday.

Gross domestic product decreased 1.8 percent sequentially in the March quarter, reversing a 2.7 percent growth in the final quarter of 2023, which was revised up from 2.6 percent.

Further, this was the fastest fall since the second quarter of 2020, when the economy shrank 6.0 percent.

The decline in the first quarter was mainly due to a decline in both transport and industry, the agency said.

On the expenditure side, household consumption dropped 1.9 percent over the quarter as vehicle purchases slumped by 32.2 percent.

Net external demand was weak during the March quarter, as exports showed a decline of 4.8 percent compared to the previous quarter, while imports increased by 0.8 percent.

On a positive note, gross fixed investments grew 5.0 percent, and public consumption advanced by 1.9 percent.

The annual growth in GDP slowed significantly to 0.2 percent from 3.5 percent in the previous quarter.