New figures: European slowdown sidesteps Denmark
New manufacturing figures from Statistics Denmark are an important early indicator for the Danish economy.
The European slowdown continues to sidestep Denmark, show the latest figures from Statistics Denmark for manufacturing, which has grown by 0.5 per cent between March and April. That is good news for the Danish economy, says DI’s chief economist, because manufacturing is an important early indicator for the direction in which the Danish economy is headed.
“The slowdown in the European economy is not hindering the influx of orders to Danish manufacturing companies. Manufacturers in Denmark largely produce goods that are less impacted by ups and downs in the international economy, such as wind turbines, pharmaceuticals and foods. These companies are therefore less vulnerable when growth in the European economy slows down,” says Morten Granzau, Chief Economist at DI.
The figures for industrial production and turnover are the first “hard” indicator that Statistics Denmark puts forward regarding the development of the Danish economy. Danish manufacturing companies are responsible for almost 16 per cent of employment and about 18 per cent of value creation in the public and private sector.
Growth in industrial production means that manufacturers have hired more employees.
For the fifth year running, job creation in manufacturing has continued to increase in 2018. Over the past five years, manufacturing companies have employed 17,000 new employees. New robots have made production smarter and more efficient, which creates new jobs. Morten Granzau, Chief Economist at DI
A fifth of manufacturing companies expect to increase production in coming months, and that increases the demand for new colleagues in the field.
“Expectations of continued industrial growth will cause manufacturing companies to hire more employees if they have access to available workforce. DI has recently completed a survey among almost 2,000 manufacturing companies showing that every eighth Danish manufacturer has turned down orders or moved production abroad as a result of labour shortage,” says Morten Granzau.
