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RETUFRN RETURN-O -RE S T R I CT E D REPORTS DESKR W 'ITJIN R e po rt No. E.A.91a ONE WEEK r XW Public Disclosure Authorized This report was prepared for use within the Bank. In making it available to others, the Bank assumes no responsibility to them for the accuracy or completeness of the information contained herein. INTERNATIONAL BANK FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT Public Disclosure Authorized THE ECONOMY OF DENMARK December 19, 1958. Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Department of Operations - Europe, Africa and Australasia. CONVERSION RATES FOR DANISH CURRENCY U.S. $1 - Danish Kroner 6.907 Danish Krone 1 - U.S. $0.145 Danish Kroner 1,000,000 - U.S. $145,000 Pound Sterling 1 - Danish Kroner 19.4 TABIE OF CONTENTS Page No. BASIC DATA MAP I. THE SETTING . 1 A. Historical and Political Background . , . a 1 B. Economic Background . ..a . 2 II. STRIJCTURE OF ECONOvY . 3 A. Agriculture . .. 3 Importance of Agriculture in Danish Economy . 3 Character of Danish Agriculture . 3 Land Tenure and the Cooperative System . 4 Postwar Developments . 5 Agricultural lolicy , . 6 B. Industry and Employment . 7 Postwar Developments . 8 Employment and Unemployment . 8 C. Transportation; . 9 D. Financial Structure . 10 1. IMIoney and Banking . 10 2. Public Finances . 12 Prospects . 13 3. Prices and Wages. 13 E. National Income, Savings and Investment . 14 III. FOREIGN TRkDR, AND THE BAL101CE OF PAY-NTS . 16 Recent Developments ............ 19 External Debt and Other Foreign Investments . 19 IV. IMPACT OF PLANS FOR, EUROPEAN ECONO0'EC UNIFICATION . 20 V. PROSPECTS. ............. 20 STATISTICAL APPENDIX ................... 22 BASIC DATA Population (1957) - 4.5 million Area - 16,600 square miles Gross National Product 1956 - 30 billion ($4.3 billion equivalent) % of G.N.P. (1956) Gross Investment 18 Exports of Goods and Services 35 Government Current Expenditure 13 Money Supply 25 Per Capita G.N.P. (1956) - 6,750 Kr. ($975) 1957 Balance of Payments (In millions of dollars equivalent) Current Account Capital Account Exports (f.o.b.) 1,179 Amortization of Imports (f.o.b.) 1 246 public debt -34 Trade balance :77 IvF drawing 34 Net shipping receipts 80 Other 10 Other (including errors and omissions) 41 Balance 10 Balance 54 Increase in Foreign Exchange Reserves (Central Bank and commercial banks) 64 Public External Debt, March 31, 1958 Million $ equivalent U. S. Dollars 87.7 Pounds sterling 28.8 EPU consolidated 52.1 Other 59.7 Total 228.3 Foreign Exchange Reserves Central Bank (September 30, 1958) Gold 31 Foreign exchange 192 Total 223 Commercial banks (net assets, August 31, 1958) 53 To Sison., To B.Og. To Oslo To OIlo i ''A'X'0' _''''>N / H X ,, %1|E% t _ \ / DENMARK '," 0 / M Railways .. Main Roads '; F Sea Route - - -- RaiwayF erries ( . * ..-5 to?btg (Remaining railwayn roads .l A SAW E 0 25 50 75 lOOMit - 1 : '.':A.t~~~ fa\j\ / KaL/\~5I~J E A tD 7 tll~A OLL A ........... ............ OECEtMBER Tc Icnov-r1958 Q 1To 8Fttin To tt*rfilr _ S 7t _jW W G R M ANY' KE. GERMANY > DECEMBER1958 To100. , To 8.010 To 8#0ril To 6.0110 IBRO534 THE ECONOOMY OF DENMARK I. THE SETTING A. Historical and Political Background 1. In earlier times the Kingdom of Dermark comprised a much larger area than at present. Defeat in the Thirty Yearst 1War (1618-1648) and in subsequent wars with Sweden caused serious losses of territory and the general impoverishment of the country. These disasters, however, enabled the King, backed by the middle classes and by the peasants, to curtail the excessive powers wielded by the nobility and establish an absolute monarchy which, under the influence of 18th century "enlightenment," introduced far- reaching reforms and thus laid the foundations of Denmark's future advances in the economic and social fields. Progress was interrupted by the NaDoleonic wars. Since the middle of the 19th century, and especially since the loss of Schleswig and Holstein to Prussia in 1864, land reform and the reclamation of Jutland became major national objectives. The defeat of the Conservatives in the 1901 elections ushered in a period of far-reaching political, social and economic reforms which reshaped Denmark into one of the most progressive States in Europe. 2. Denmark remained neutral during the first Wlorld liar. A plebiscite held after the war resulted in the transfer to Denmark of the northern part of Schleswig, involving an area of 1,500 square miles and a population of 163,000. Denmark again proclaimed its neutrality during the second World War but the country was occupied by German troops in April 1940. 3. The constitution of 1953 provides for a single House with 179 members. Election is by proportional representation. There are four principal political parties. The Social Democrats, the largest Danish party, have accounted for 40 per cent of the popular vote in the last four electiors. They represent the interests of labor but are also supported by small-holders. The Agrarian Liberals represent the larger farmers as well as other corservative opinion. The Conservatives have become a middle-of-the-road party not differing much from the Agrarian Liberals. The Radical Liberals, sunported by small-holders and town intellectuals, are a numerically small party but wield considerable influence. With the exception of a three-year period of Liberal-Conservative rule (October 1950 to September 1953), postwar governments have been formed by the Social Democrats with the reluctant support of the Radicals. The elections of May 1957 yielded the first postwar majority government consisting of a coali- tior of Social-Democrats, Radicals and Single Tax Party. 4. At the beginning of the 20th century the Danish overseas possessions consisted of Iceland, Greenland, the Faeroe Islands and the Virgin Islands. In 1917 the Virgin Islands were sold to the United States. In 1918 Iceland -2- was declared an independent state under the Danish King, but Denmark remained in charge of its foreign relations. In 1944 Iceland becarne a completely independent republic, following a national plebiscite. Greenland, largely uninhabited (population 22,000), was made an integral part of Denmark by the 1953 Constitution and is represented in the Danish parliament by two deputies. The Faeroes, with a population of 37,000, are a group of islands in the North Atlantic enjoying a large measure of local autonomy and represented in the Danish parliament by two deputies. B. Economic Background 5. Denmark covers an area of 16,600 square miles and has a population of 4,450,000. The density of population is about the same as in France but only half that of Germany and one-third that of the United Kingdom and Belgium. The Jutland peninsula (see accompanying map) has 45 percent of the total population, the two large islands of Zealand and Funen account for 52 percent of the population. The surface of the country is uniformly low, the highest ground not exceeding 600 feet above sea level. 6. Zealand, Funen and East Jutland, where undulating clay formations predominate, are the most fertile parts of the country while West Jutland is largely a plain of poor sandy soils. Climate has been described as Denmark's major asset. Due to the maritime influence, it is milder and more uniform than that of most countries in the same latitude. Denmark has few other natural assets. It is almost wholly deprived of fuel, has no important metallic minerals, no hydroelectric potential and only limited timber resources. 7. Until the middle of the last century Denmark was an economic;1ly backward agricultural nation,producing mainly grain for export to neighboring countries. The land reforms of the second half of the 19th century, coupled with the rapid spread of education, are generally credited with transforming the unprogressive peasants into highly eff'icient farmers, eager to adopt the most up-to-date methods and techniques and capable of developing the world's most successful cooperative system. In the same period large tracts of unpro- ductive land were reclaimed for agriculture through marling, draining, planting of trees and irrigation, mostly through private initiative. Simi- larly,extensive areas in the West, which for centuries had been subjected to heavy damage by drifting sand, were protected through planting and securing of the sand dunes. The advent of cheap overseas grain, far from ruining Danish agriculture, caused a highly profitable change-over to dairy farming. Industrial development f'ollowed closely in the wake of agricultural expansion. The impetus came from the rising incomes and needs of farmers, the tigh stand- ards of education of the population and the proximity of important markets and sources of supply. The same factors account for the rapid growth of the ship- ping and fishing industries during this period. Between 1880 and 1914 the output of agriculture doubled and exports of livestock products increased ten- fold, while industrial expansion was even more rapid. The real national in- come trebled during that period, implying a rate of growth of 3 1/2 percent per annum. -3- 8. The attempt after lWorld War I to restore the currency to its prewar parity subjected the country to a severe deflation which was accompanied by industrial stagnation and unemployment. Buoyant exports helped to revive the economy after 1926 but this was brought to an abrupt end by the world depres- sion. Like most countries, Denmark adjusted to the disruption of world trade during the 1930's by stimulating production for the home market through im- port restrictions and exchange controls. As a result, industrial production increased by 30 percent during this period while agricultural production remained virtually unchanged. As in many other countries this represented a shift from a more efficient to a less efficient utilization of national re- sources.