Has your pay kept up with prices in Denmark? Enter your salary over time and compare it with the Danish consumer price index and average pay growth from Statistics Denmark.
Danish rules
This calculator applies Danish law and Danish collective agreements. It is for employment in Denmark and does not reflect the rules of other countries.
Enter at least two salaries and press Calculate to see how your real wage has developed.
Your real wage (realløn) is your pay measured in what it can buy. If your pay rises 3% while prices rise 4%, your real wage has fallen — even though your payslip shows a bigger number. The calculator compares your own salaries over time with the Danish consumer price index (forbrugerprisindekset) and with average pay growth in Denmark, both published by Statistics Denmark (Danmarks Statistik). You see whether your purchasing power has gone up or down, what your pay should have been to keep up with prices, and how you compare with other employees in Denmark.
Note that your pay is compared with Danish prices and Danish pay growth. The calculator is therefore meant for pay earned in Denmark and paid in Danish kroner (DKK); if you work in another country, its own price index is the relevant yardstick. The index figures are fetched automatically from Statistics Denmark and updated when new figures are released — the consumer price index every month and the earnings index every quarter.
A private-sector employee in Denmark earned DKK 32,000 in April 2021 and earns DKK 38,000 in April 2026. Their pay has risen 18.75%.
The Danish consumer price index rose from 86.46 to 100.74 — that is 16.5%. To have the same purchasing power, the pay would need to be 32,000 × 100.74 ÷ 86.46 = DKK 37,285.
Real wage: 1.1875 ÷ 1.1652 − 1 = +1.9%, or DKK 715 more in purchasing power per month. Average private-sector pay in Denmark rose over the same period to DKK 37,927 (+1.7% in real terms).
The pay was DKK 35,000 in January 2022 and is still DKK 35,000 in January 2025.
Danish prices rose 10.6% (from 89.29 to 98.75). The same purchasing power would require 35,000 × 98.75 ÷ 89.29 = DKK 38,708.
Real wage: 1 ÷ 1.106 − 1 = −9.6%. That is a loss of DKK 3,708 per month. The average for all sectors in Denmark rose to DKK 39,223 (+1.3% in real terms).
Employees whose pay lags behind both prices and general pay growth are more likely to look elsewhere. The calculator gives both sides a shared set of figures for the pay review.
The earnings index is an average for the whole sector in Denmark. Industry, job and collective agreement (overenskomst) can mean a different normal pay growth.
Use the figures in your pay negotiation. “My pay needs to rise to DKK X to give me the same purchasing power as two years ago” is a concrete, factual argument.
A new job with higher pay is also a pay rise. Enter the pay from each job to see your whole development.
The consumer price index is an average for Danish households. Your own inflation depends on what you spend your money on — such as rent, energy or food.