Danish Culture and Lifestyle

Denmark has a rich cultural life. Danish architecture, art, music, movies, theatre, ballet and opera is known internationally. Most Danes live peaceful lives and have a modern lifestyle.

Danish cultural life

The Danes are proud of their rich cultural heritage and often attend cultural events. Denmark have many skilful architects, artist, musicians, actors, movie directors, ballet dancers, opera singers and others who enrich the Danish cultural life.

When visiting Denmark you can can experience and attend many exiting cultural event. You can visit art exhibitions, film festivals, concerts, plays, ballets, operas or simply enjoy the old and modern architecture you can find in Danish cities and in the countryside. 

Danish lifestyle

Denmark was once known and feared for it's Viking warriors. Today Denmark has developed into a peace-loving and prosperous country where most people live modern lives.

The Danish lifestyle model is centred around the Danish society where the democratic elected government always seek to provide better living conditions for it’s citizens. The high tax the Danes pay is used by the government to provide a high level of social security, healthcare services, a good educational system and to support the Danish cultural life.

Most Danes focus on having a good family life, work life and social life. In Denmark women and men are equal by law. Danish women and men are independent and normally both work in order to provide a high living standard for their family.

The Danes are the world’s happiest people

Recent studies have shown that the Danes are the happiest people in the world. Most Danes are living good personal lives and are satisfied with the way their life is going.

Denmark is among the world’s 20 richest countries by GDP per capita. However the wealth in Denmark is equally divided. Therefore you will not find many billionaires or very poor people in Denmark.

An old saying says “Money can’t buy happiness”. This is also the case in Denmark where having a good family life, work life and social life counts more than being rich. Other factors which influence the high level of happiness is the Danish social security system, the healthcare system and the high level of trust the Danes have for their authorities.

The generous Danes

The Danes are very much aware of their high standard of living. Therefore the Danes have also become a generous people always ready to donate money and provide help to people in need all around the world. The Danish state also provides help for people in need in connection with food crisis and natural disasters.

Danes are open to the world

Most Danes are well educated and speak more languages. Already in elementary school Danes are taught English and either German or French. The many Danish students which choose to attend an upper secondary education and later a higher education mostly get good education which can provide them with good work opportunities.

The Danish educational system also provides students with knowledge and good language skills. This makes it easy for the Danes to deal with other countries, to travel to or to work in other countries if they want to. In general the Danes are very open to deal with the rest of world and to explore the world as tourists. 

Low power distance and high individualism in Denmark

According to Geert Hofstede's studies Denmark has a low power distance score. This means that there is no major gap between the Danish workforce and the management in Danish companies. Therefore it is normal for Danish workers to question management decisions and provide management with new ideas.

On individualism Denmark has a high score, because most Danes are able to handle their work themselves. However the level of individualism is not as high as e.g. in the US. The reason is that private entrepreneurship is more common in the US than in Denmark. Most Danes are comfortable with being employed at a company.

Danish business culture

The Danish business cultures is characterised by Danes working hard to fulfil their dreams and goals. In general Danish companies are open for new ideas and innovation. Companies are also constantly seeking new markets and ways to sell their products.

When dealing with Danish companies it is important to know that punctuality, honesty, respect for laws and good personal relations are very important. However the most important ting is to offer a fair and good deal if you are interested in building a long term business relationship with Danish companies.