(Bloomberg) — Denmark’s economy expanded sharply in the fourth quarter as Novo Nordisk A/S and its pharmaceutical industry peers ramped up production, but revised data shows the Nordic country will grow by 2023 It showed that the economy had avoided a technical recession at the beginning of the year.
Statistics Denmark released preliminary figures for the fourth quarter on Tuesday, showing gross domestic product increased by 2% compared to the previous three months. The pharmaceutical industry was the driving force behind the expansion, but growth was also supported by increased consumer spending.
The economic recovery comes as Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo is investing heavily to meet massive demand for its blockbuster weight loss drug Wigovy and diabetes drug Ozempic. The increase in sales has pushed the company, now Europe’s most valuable company, to record levels of profits, boosting the country’s overall economy.
Statistics Denmark also revised its GDP data for the third quarter, saying the economy grew by 0.4% instead of contracting by 0.7% as previously suggested, indicating that Denmark was not in recession after all. announced that it means
Tor Strummer, chief economist at the Danish Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said in a note that the figures signaled a “great final spurt” for the Danish economy in 2023. He expects the industry to “continue to contribute solid growth” in 2024 as pharmaceutical companies continue to expand production capacity.
According to the data, the growth rate for the full year of 2023 was 1.8%, but without the domestic pharmaceutical industry, the growth rate would have fallen to -0.1%. Last year, the statistics agency began publishing GDP statistics excluding the pharmaceutical industry over concerns that Novo was distorting the figures and hiding weaknesses in other sectors of the economy.
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