The workforce in the Copenhagen Region amounts to approximately one million people. Taking into account the Øresund Region , the workforce totals 1.8 million people, thus constituting the largest coherent labour market in Scandinavia.
The size of the workforce and the unemployment rates in Copenhagen, Øresund and Denmark are illustrated in the table below.
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TABLE : TOTAL WORKFORCE AND UNEMPLOYMENT RATES IN THE COPENHAGEN REGION, THE ØRESUND REGION AND DENMARK (2005 Q3)
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Copenhagen Region
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Øresund Region
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Denmark
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Total workforce
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952,800
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1,832,400
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2,838,400
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Unemployment
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4.9%
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5.8%
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4.7%
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Source: www.orestat.scb.se
A large part of the labour force in the Copenhagen and the Øresund Region is employed within the sectors retail and transport, finance/business services and human health and social institutions. The table below shows the distribution of jobs by sector. Distribution of jobs with another definition of sectors states that 13.1 per cent in the Copenhagen Region are employed within the medico and health sector and 10.8 per cent within the ITC sector. The numbers for the Øresund Region are 8.7 per cent and 14.2 per cent respectively.
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TABLE: NUMBER OF EMPLOYED IN THE COPENHAGEN REGION AND THE ØRESUND REGION BY SECTOR (NUMBER OF EMPLOYED AND PERCENTAGE OF EMPLOYED) (2003)
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Copenhagen Region
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Øresund Region
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Agriculture and fishing
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6,956
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0.7%
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32,176
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1.8%
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Mining and industry
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99,157
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10.0%
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228,234
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13.1%
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Electricity, gas and water supply
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5,186
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0.5%
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11,815
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0.7%
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Construction
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55,207
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5.6%
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104,359
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6.0%
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Retail and transport
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230,351
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23.3%
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376,167
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21.6%
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Hotel and personal services
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93,979
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9.5%
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143,409
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8.2%
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Finance/ business services
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195,780
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19.8%
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276,567
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15.9%
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Public administration
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67,225
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6.8%
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106,197
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6.1%
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Education
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68,720
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6.9%
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147,361
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8.5%
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Human health & social institutions
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163,427
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16.5%
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297,868
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17.1%
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Activity not stated
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4,620
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0.5%
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15,893
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0.9%
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990,608
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100.0%
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1,740,046
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100.0%
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Source: Statistics Denmark
Labour force participation
Participation in the labour force is high in Denmark as a whole. This reduces the pressure on the labour market and contributes to avoid labour shortages. Additionally, the active enrolment of people in the la-bour market ensures that the qualifications and skills of workers are continuously updated. Few other European countries including the other Scandinavian countries have labour force participation rates as high as Denmark’s - 80.2 per cent as illustrated in the figure below. Denmark’s high participation rate is mainly due to a high participation rate for women compared to for instance Ireland.
Figure: Labour force participation rates for persons aged 15-64 years in selected European countries (2004)
/Figure_1_Labour_force_participation.gif)
Source: OECD Employment Outlook 2005
For more information, download the factsheet "Labour Market
