Graphic Arts Industry Enterprises in Denmark

The graphic arts industry includes graphic arts print, often also termed commercial print (although including publication and specialty print in this overview), as well as newspaper print, prepress, and postpress companies. Since 2012, the number of printing establishments in Europe shows a steady decline—the effect of ongoing consolidation in the industry.

Denmark is no exception here. In fact, the number of establishments declined on average by 4.2% from 2012 to 2022—one of the highest rates in Europe. The speed of the decline is also driven by the proximity to Central Europe with much lower labor costs. The forecast expects the decline rate to continue. While there was a slight slowdown in the decline rate in 2022, the recent pressure on print costs and volumes will lead to higher rates of shutdowns in the next few years. Also, the rising operating costs will take their toll on companies not prepared to handle the cost and interest rate increases. Overall, the number of graphic arts establishments is likely to decline from 620 in 2012 to less than 300 by 2030.

Source: digitalprintexpert.de / 2024

As in all countries, the majority of companies in the graphic arts industry in Denmark are small. More than 80% have less than 10 employees (even after adjusting for dormant or non-productive companies). Only 4.6% of all enterprises have more than 50 employees, which is above the European average, however, and a sign of a relatively high degree of consolidation already.

There are other important print producers that are, statistically speaking, not part of the graphic arts industry. Those are folding carton, flexible packaging, corrugated, and label printing, plus photocopy services and in-house printing. This adds another 281 print enterprises in 2022—more than two-thirds of the number of graphic arts industry enterprises in Denmark.

Further Industry Data

This article is part of a bi-weekly series of pieces looking at print industry data in 24 European countries. The next article will feature Finland. A European overview can be found here.

A breakout of all segments by country and timelines for the number of establishments, revenue, and employment in the graphic arts industry and other print segments can be found in the 2024 European Print Industry Sizing report. The report also features the number of companies by size class and country. The report can be purchased from the WhatTheyThink store.

For questions and clarifications, please contact me at [email protected]