How Danish Living Standards Surpassed UK

[@jackcameback]

As a Brit - I have lived in Denmark for more than 20 yrs - I could not find a better country to live in - I appreciate the tax we pay is higher than the UK, but we actually get what we pay for - one of the best decisions I ever made was to move to Denmark

[@OmmerSyssel]

Har du lært ordentlig dansk, eller snakker alle stadigvæk engelsk med dig? 😏 God Jul ✝️🎄🍻

[@homeistheearth]

Virkelig??? Lever du på social hjælp eller er England bare et lorte land.? Jeg føler mig som en skatte og afgifts slave for politikerne som sender pengene til alle andre end danskerne. Nu må jeg ikke engang skifte mit eget tag, man må intet og efter korona har vores hospitals væsen også lidt et troværdigheds knæk...

[@E_Dtl]

As a Dane, just want to mention one thing: plural political parties / popular votes vs. de facto two party system / winner take all. In Denmark, every government have to seek a long term compromise.

[@LarsPallesen]

Surpassed? When was the UK's living standards higher than Denmark's? I can't remember such a time and I'm 57 years old.

[@christina1764]

I am Danish, but have lived in England and it hasn't been better since WW2. I'm a bit doubtful about pre-WW2 😏 ©️🤍

[@LarsPallesen]

​@@christina1764 Yeah, I'm not really sure why he assumes that the UK ever had the highest living standards in Europe. To my knowledge they never did. Britain always had a large and poor working class that would drag down the average living standard of the UK.

[@christina1764]

@@LarsPallesen I totally agree 😏

[@vengaboydk]

My thought exactly! I noticed that in the title and it was the reason why I even watched this video. It gives a lot of answers but not that answer.

[@12presspart]

dont forget the uk has 10....x the population putting up taxes could make a difference but most people work in low minimum wage jobs immigration into the uk doesnt help either in this situation getting the wealhy to pay more tax best of luck with that buddy

[@Escviitash]

There was a study some years ago, which concluded that though Denmark has one of the highest tax rates, our tax burden is among the lowest. The calculation was: tax burden = taxes paid - tax funds returned more or less directly to the tax payers, mostly in form of free tuition and free healthcare. Or said in another what Danes pay extra due to higher taxes is for most countries surpassed by what they pay for out of their own pocket, things that are free or low priced in Denmark.

[@HurtigeHelene]

Its not free when you pay over the tax.

[@chrislambaa7586]

​​​@@HurtigeHelenehe explicitly said it was paid over taxes and that's why it was free. Are you suggesting that we pay it over our taxes and then a second time after???? You are just regurgitating an often used comment when we talk about tax, without even really reading and understanding what he said. Kind of embarrassing. Maybe you are too hurtig helene? 😄

[@chrislambaa7586]

Yes, your point is completely valid. The amount of tax benefits and public service returned does end up being a financial benefit compared to the countries paying less tax. The obvious reason is that the government don't need to make a profit on anything and if they do like with bridge tolls, the money gets directed to something else that benefit the public.

[@RejaxDJ]

Well just to confuse or make some kind of envy bigger. If we (Danes) pay to much tax in the resent year, we will get the "overpayed" taxes returned into our private bank account. Every year we can fill out a "pre year tax form" (I don't know the English word for it). That is where we can guess how much taxes, we are going to pay, for the next year. If we guess wrong (too much / too little) we will get money return or pay the amount, from our wrong guess to the actual tax amount used. So every april/may we will get the results. Things that we could have guessed wrong, could be something like travel distance from home to work, if we midyear get a new job. Unemployment to get a job or the other way around. The change in the salary. Going from rental to buying a house. Ect.

[@nielsjensen4185]

People generally have no issues paying taxes if they feel they get enough services in return, and we get plenty of services in return as opposed to pretty much everyone else.

[@eChuckNorris]

People panic when they see the tax rates of Denmark... But I can tell you, having lived 24 years in the UK and now 11 years in Denmark, that the quality of life given the same job is quite a bit higher in Denmark.

[@freyjasvansdottir9904]

I live in Denmark, and the funny thing about tax is I just don’t look at it as me paying taxes each month, as I never looked at this money as mine, but rather as all of ours, so all of us can enjoy healthcare, infrastructure and education

[@HSE331]

@@freyjasvansdottir9904only works if you apply it to fellow danes and not the entire world

[@freyjasvansdottir9904]

@HSE331 I’m not sure what you mean by that

[@freyjasvansdottir9904]

@HSE331 if you are referring to non-ethnically danish Danes as “the whole world” you are barking up the wrong tree. I am not ethnically danish but I view all of us as Danes.

[@nightravenonline]

Surpassed ? Denmark was never behind !

[@Salty_old_Viking]

The UK/GB/England had (mostly significantly) higher GDP per Capita than Denmark-Norway/Denmark at least since data were available in 1525 until 1959 when the two countries switched position (probably for good). According to the data-source behind: kzbin.info/www/bejne/q3nEZmaLrph7bZosi=pxGnrmIaXcvX7YI1

[@LarsPallesen]

​@@Salty_old_Viking So he's just a bit late in reporting the news that Denmark surpassed the UK's living standards in 1959 then? :-)

[@thecrimsondragon9744]

Need to move to Denmark ASAP.

[@dallesamllhals9161]

..our Navy in '07? Oh sry'undskyld 1807!

[@thecommander9137]

​@@thecrimsondragon9744good luck. As a Dane I can report, it's not easy to get here, especially now. And the employers will likely try to cheat you.

[@ane-louisestampe7939]

The worst things about Denmark are the high taxes and the changing weather. The best things about Denmark are the high taxes and the changing weather.

[@langbo9999]

True 🇩🇰

[@ChristianrnstrupRasmussen]

Summed perfectly.

[@nickeypetersen5622]

Taxes are not worse here in Denmark. Only if you ignore all the benefits of it.

[@leonorakristinerozalinamll9473]

There is NO worse things about Denmark we are perfect compared to sny other country in the world.

[@leonorakristinerozalinamll9473]

@Goldenfish-o5p Sorry but it is true.

[@Hession0Drasha]

Denmark invested in infrastructure and human capital. In the UK, we put lots of soft barriers, to getting good jobs, that require money to overcome.

[@greenearth9945]

I have lived in Denmark for 32 years. The country is run by competent people and the system is effecient and logical. Amazing country

[@mortenovergaard7397]

competent people? i wouldn't take it that far..

[@carstenf279]

Competent people, yes. But also self-flogging people with low self-esteem 😜

[@greenearth9945]

@@mortenovergaard7397 everything is relative my friend. Denmark is ran exceptionally well compared to even most of first world countries let alone third world countries

[@heinedenmark]

@@mortenovergaard7397 So why are things going so well? Luck??

[@heinedenmark]

@@carstenf279 What?

[@jenslrkedal9219]

A huge difference between UK and Denmark is the election system. In Denmark, a political partys representation depends on their number of votes, and the bottom limit for getting elected is only 2%. This has resulted in a parlament, where no party has majority, so the politicians are forced to cooperate. In UK this would be described as a "hung parlament", but in Denmark it works.

[@edwardmiller3859]

Failure of UK government has transformed the British economy into a low skills low wage economy, with many relying on government top ups. We have this situation for decades now

[@robtyman4281]

Zero hours contracts too. These should be made illegal under UK Law. Id like the current government to do something about this, as it's morally (if not ethically) wrong.

[@steffenb.jrgensen2014]

This could very well be the main culprit - but increase skills and then wages

[@creounity]

In your opinion, does the U.K. have a chanсe to recover its economy (with affordable hounsing, great healthcare system etc)? If so, what measures should be taken in order to achieve that goal?

[@thomasrpoulsen]

The good thing about living in a country with a high cost of living is that regardless of which country you visit, it is cheaper. Greetings from a Dane

[@langbo9999]

True 🇩🇰👍🏻

[@jakeforrest]

Except Norway !!! Greetings from 🇩🇰

[@ITubeTooInc]

@@jakeforrest And Switzerland

[@blueblack3591]

Love denmark. So beautiful

[@OmmerSyssel]

If that's your primary observation, then good luck exploring the world while working among ordinary people 🫣

[@gretareinarsson7461]

Denmark is a model for other countries but it is also important to acknowledge that there is a national agreement about the basics of how a good society is to be. Same can be said about Finland.

[@OmmerSyssel]

Well, lots of tensions and disagreement are actually noticed in our taxpaid ghetto's. 🤔💸💸💸

[@NATIK001]

I think one of the main reasons high taxes work so well in Denmark is the Flexicurity system, which means workers are easy to fire when not needed, very few barriers to letting people go. However those fired will get high unemployment benefits ( especially if they were unionized) and will get free state funded education and training to get a new and better job. Workers also don't need to fear being unable to pay for their kid's educations, for healthcare, childcare and so forth when laid off in most cases. The Danish system tries to optimize itself for an agile work force which is always growing its competency level.

[@clausjensen5658]

On another positive note , this system also allows it for the worker to easily quit and the freedom to pursue another job not out of need , but out of lust. Which in turn makes companies fokused( treating them well) on keeping their experienced workers rather than seeing them go to the competition.

[@Darveolsen]

I agree with you on the flexible job system. However, just to clarify... if you get fired you normally get 3-6 months salary from the company, depending on how many years you have been with the company. Other than that you only get an unemployment benefit, if you are member of an unemployment insurance fund, which you pay for privately. You can maybe get one six weeks course paid for, however no real education.

[@Darveolsen]

​@@KurtFrederiksen True... 'A good part of the unemployment insurance fund is payed by public money.' However, you still need to pay privately every month of your work life in order to access that money. I have known people who didn't want to pay that kind of money... until loosing their job and then it is too late. I agree. 'There's no 'only' in this as you will be hard pressed to find better conditions other than in Luxembourg and Belgium.' You don't just sit around getting paid for 24 months. However, I do find it a good solution, as it does provide some support and economic safety.

[@herrensaar1989]

@@KurtFrederiksen Most of that is public money, and you get a tax dicount worth 35% of the value as well.

[@kaiserslavaniaashur1623]

It is NOT easy to fire anyone unless you have an actuall reason to do so. Any company that tries to pull that shit gets whacked to shit by out unions

[@robtyman4281]

The UK now has by far, the worst living standards in Western Europe.

[@klawlor3659]

Living standards here are rubbish. But trust me, if you're working 14 hours a day, 6 days a week in central Portugal and coming out with the bare minimum, you'd know about it!

[@talalzaber2493]

@@klawlor3659 Bare minimum there is at least high quality fresh produce and warm sunny weather.

[@klawlor3659]

@@talalzaber2493 I can't disagree with that, those points are valid. I should know, I was that person in Portugal experiencing the sunny hot weather and tasty meals. The sad thing was I was earning a pittance and working 6 days a week from morning until night whilst there! Not nice when you're slaving away in a hot kitchen in 40°c heat....I did go there for the Portuguese culture and way of life though, and I got that in spades. If you're only doing a bog standard 9-5 job theŕe, and earning a decent wedge then that makes the difference, but those jobs are as rare as hens teeth where I was! On the flip side, southern Netherlands was a much nicer way of life. Lovely cafe culture, hot weather through the summer, great transport links and a nice work culture with decent pay.

[@cdr29qm]

​@@klawlor3659 Portugal is the obvious exception here (maybe also the most economically depressed parts of Spain and Italy). Would be a great place for older Brits to *retire* to, except the majority of them chose to sacrifice their ability to do that in 2016.

[@OzPozzy278]

You mean in the Western World

[@mike747436]

Denmark's political system is very different to the two party, adversarial, FPTP one we 'enjoy' here. It's more consensual and is broadly trusted by its citizens.

[@jasip1000]

Politicians are certainly not thrusted in Denmark, most people here distrust politicians big time.

[@mike747436]

So what’s your explanation for the much better social contract that operates in Denmark?

[@jasip1000]

@@mike747436 I think much of it comes from how we in this country very much thrust each other, and how individuals interact and relate to one another. For example in rural areas it’s quite common to see unattended roadside stalls where people sell potatoes, flowers, fire wood or anything. Customers at those stalls are expected to leave money in a jar, or maybe there is a mobile phone number or a QR code to do the payment digitally. This level of thrust is kind of integrated, in Danish society and I think it actually promotes economic growth.

[@mike747436]

Yes that’s my impression too, but I see that extending into politics in Denmark in a way that it just doesn’t in the UK. We have this two party adversarial system, rather like the US, that is very different to the more diverse and representative system that exists in Denmark.

[@jasip1000]

@@mike747436 it Probably do extend in to politic somehow, but generally politicians are not thrusted the same way common people thrust each other in this country. And about your two party system and way of electing politicians in the UK, I never understood it mate.

[@bradtenbonga]

First time here …. Outstanding research and analytical synopsis . Thank you . B

[@1Tulipan23]

I 100% agree first time i have listen to a foreigner that really got it right!

[@Just_another_Euro_dude]

Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Austria, Switzerland, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Ireland. ALL those countries are richer than UK. That's some 162 MILLION people in Europe, that are richer than UK. And 67 million French are basically on par with the UK, in some elements behind UK and in some elements ahead! So there's some 229 million people in Europe that are not poorer than UK. I didn't even add regions with many millions of people like northern Italy, Madrid, Barcelona, Prague, Bratislava, etc. that are absolutely MUCH richer than the British averages too.

[@gypsybond8651]

one key difference is uk population sees tax increase as government theft, but the danish population sees it as investment on people - on public goods such as education (human capital), health care (human capital) and infrastructure (physical capital) , which is why the latter enjoy higher productivity level, and higher GDP/capita than UK. also the danish government delivers, plain and simple - the tax revenues are spent strategically, which explains why denmark consistently ranks among the top 5 happiest countries. on top of that denmark has a sovereign wealth fund (funded by trade surplus), whereas UK has none - nothing saved up for rainy days. i think how the descendants of the Danish vikings who once plundered the UK shores now enjoy higher standards of living than UK population in general makes for a great bedtime story.

[@thecrimsondragon9744]

That's because in the UK, it IS government theft. They take more and more while we get less and less in public services. 12 years of austerity has made this painfully obvious. The Danes are a high trust society where tax revenues are much less likely to be misappropriated by their politicians so they are in the very fortunate position of having relatively significantly more confidence in their system. Once the trust is lost, it's hard to regain...

[@OmmerSyssel]

​@@thecrimsondragon9744somehow UK mentality equals slow progress, even in important matters. No important technology, inventions or basics seems worth buying or copying. Merry Christmas ✝️🎄🍻

[@moif_velocita]

You only have to live in both countries to know how much better Denmark is, in every possible way

[@Max-ve5tu]

Denmark's digital infrastructure is also a huge differenting factor between them and most other European countries. I suspect this is also a reason why worker productivity is so high.

[@jakeforrest]

I live in Denmark and love it here

[@marco27c1]

Very impressive video, you get a lot right, and that isn't easy, for foreigners that look at other countries.

[@jonasholm-mw5bn]

Tuition isn’t just free, we get paid for it. When you turn 18 you can start getting SU which at first is lower if you still live with your parents, but it is still enough to pay for cheap rent when you get further. It’s about 5.200 dkk

[@UffeKousgaard]

At 4:50 it says 37% and 42%, correct numbers are 27% and 42%.

[@FroddeB]

I think the main thing that makes Danish society work is the people. It's never solely a government or politicians choosing where we're going. Democracy in Denmark was built on associations exchanging ideas with each other. Worker unions ensuring for over 150 years that good work ethics and liveable income is present. People here trust each other a lot more than in other countries. So much in fact that we may even be naive when engaging with foreigners. People don't boast or lie, which makes it easier for everyone to see what's ahead.

[@dzllz]

Danes trust each other yes. But with mass migration from foreign cultures that goes out of the window

[@davetherave1230]

So denmark work fewer hours than us and they are more productive per hour.

[@tancreddehauteville764]

Working hours has nothing to do with productivity.

[@davetherave1230]

@@tancreddehauteville764 countries that work fewer hours tend to be more productive per hour.

[@tomatofeind2019]

​@@tancreddehauteville764of course it does! That's how you work out the productivity lmao

[@applerose6659]

That means the productivity of UK peoples left behind Demark, in particular working strike of the railway workers, it hinders the economy all over the UK.

[@milez077]

​​​@@tomatofeind2019so hours contracted definitely works out as amount of productivity? Nah! Just by being somebody who works I can think of plenty of reasons why it doesn't. 1. How much time in a working day does an average employee spend chatting, scrolling on their phone or half heartedly working. 2. How many people don't work their full hours. Without micromanagement some people are really productive but I have mates and colleagues who skive off for hours per day - everyday. Post covid I know people who literally have days out and 'pretend to work' by simply monitoring their laptop every so often and answering a few emails. Many more examples, my mate napping in his van etc.. 3. Respect for employer and country in general counts too - if you don't like somebody you ain't going over and above for them or pushing yourself to your limits in terms of productivity whereas respect brings effort. 4. Sickness - also related to respect. I'd more willingly phone in sick to somebody I don't care about than somebody I hold highly. 5. Methods of working, digitalisation, improved and robust systems and teams who are well laid out for max productivity. How many uk companies do you know who have way too many managers doing things from the above points and get paid a lot to do seemingly nothing. How old are some nhs and other systems such as databases or other software slow people down and reduce productivity? I could keep going on.... Happy people are productive people and smart people at the top foster these. Idiots at the top take for themselves and do anything for an easy life without any care for wider consequences. We have become a lazy but overworked nation.

[@dinoyoung]

Countries like Denmark and Poland, whose economy is doing well, also have very robust migration policies. They have good economies and low crime.

[@zSilverWingz]

🤦

[@skasteve6528]

I think their wealth has more to do with them being more effectively governed, their private industry having better management, education standards are higher and far lower levels of corruption. Sure migration does have an impact, but it is not the main reason for Britain's decline over the last 75 years.

[@plerpplerp5599]

Eh?😂

[@Khaled91]

The problem with the UK is short-termism and licking America's arse in everything. Denmark, Norway, and Poland had long-term visions of their countries.

[@Sweet-Rat-Milk]

Don't compare Denmark with Poland. Poland has a long way to go. There's a reason tens of millions of Polish citizens live in Western-Europe.

[@fustilarian1]

In the UK NICs are a form of regressive taxation, and the wealthiest make loads in capital gains too. So whenever the Tories say they want to cut taxes, it rings true for everyone because poor and lower income people are legitimately taxed way too much. But the tories tend to cut taxes from the top making the tax system even more regressive. Labour could and should go on the tax cutting bandwagon too, except cutting it from them bottom, and adding back on the top bands.

[@vonder7]

Completely not true, the problem is that poor pay little to no taxes and get a lot of social transfers and the middle class is taxed enormously. I’ve been paying close to 50 percent of my wage and got little public services. It doesn’t pay to work hard. Meanwhile the truly richly like Richi Sunak pay an effective rate of 20 percent. Broken tax system leads to a broken economy.

[@talalzaber2493]

@@vonder7 I don't think they're referring to income tax rather a wealth tax.

[@fustilarian1]

​@@vonder7 Bollox. The highest marginal tax rate is 45% which starts at 125,140GBP per year. You could earn a million per year and not be taxed 50%. At 200k, the effective tax rate is roughly 38%. Also you do realise that if you're middle income (let's say between 40-80k), cutting taxes from the bottom and adding to the top will either benefit you too, or not have that much of an effect? Pretty much no one earning more than 10k per year is entitled to universal credit unless they have dependents either, the most someone gets if they earn nothing is only 400GBP per month. Do you never bother using the NHS/fire/roads/electrical network that your taxes pay for? Do your bins never get collected? Maybe you should stop paying taxes and instead the government can ban you from using the roads, disconnect your house from the grid, ban you from NHS hospitals, not bother visiting if you have a fire or are a victim of crime.

[@vonder7]

@@fustilarian1 I’m inside IR35 which means I pay extra 14 percent employer contribution. I get 53 percent take home of my rate. The public service I get for the money are terrible value, broken roads, I don’t use NHS since the waiting period is 2-3 weeks in my area. For roads I additionally pay road tax for bin collection I pay council tax. I’m soon moving to a country that I will only pay 8 percent tax and have far more benefits and public service. The uk it’s the highest taxed country in the world if you take into account what you get for your taxes. Unless you are unemployed with many kids then you get wined and dined and 1M property to live in.

[@frederiktherkildsen]

@@vonder7 I think your comment highlighs the cultural difference between the UK and Denmark spot on. Danes are way more egalitarian. It seems the upper middleclass and above are by at large not getting a "good return on investment" if you think of it only in economical terms. But the trade off is a more productive and stable society, which are to some extent the main drivers of the 'happiness.'

[@Nicolaj89]

Education is the answer. We can’t compete on low wage labor so instead we need to compete on knowledge. DK don’t have the best education, but it’s available for everyone, no matter your background. This has allowed us a successful transition from a society where the majority worked in agriculture ore factories, into one where the majority works in offices. To me, at lot a uk cities still struggle with the aftermath of heavy industry shutdowns, decades ago, because you never up qualified your workforce to take on engineering jobs, finance etc.. Increasing taxes helps nothing if you have nothing to trade with, and what you have to trade with in the modern western world is knowledge.

[@thecrimsondragon9744]

This is a good point. Thatcher absolutely ruined certain areas of Britain with her policies. People lost their livelihood, and there was no plan to re-educate or retrain them to enter into other areas. People lost hope. You cannot attack a large segment of your workforce repeatedly as Thatcher did without very sharp consequences. It's almost like a trauma.

[@OmmerSyssel]

​@@thecrimsondragon9744to my knowledge those days British workforce were extreme conflict orientated, Unions forced industry into economic issues by endless strikes, instead of cooperating for a common goal? Which is more or less basic mentality in the Danish workforce...

[@alexanderishere1857]

The secret sauce is: High trust. So few controls and low oversight. This saves lots of costs. It also increases autonomy. Studies show that a Danish line worker has the same autonomy as an English supervisor/manager. And I could keep going - high trust has positive benefits in all areas. Why is trust high?: Quite homogenous population with accepted values, and a population which generally want to help others and believe others also want to help others. Honesty, timelines etc are strongly important values shared by the vast majority. There is also a trust in government. The biggest threats to Denmark is immigration as it is a threat to homogeneity, cohesion, and thus trust. However, some immigration of skilled labour is needed.

[@oghostile]

Yes I agree but Denmark dosent really have a military that can protect its country. And all the tax money goes to the health care system now they are extremely vulnerable to the Russians and Chinese the war in Europe is only growing . And the politicians know it now that they should have been smarter and prepared for harder times what’s the point of having a good country if you can’t defend it.

[@fahmad7194]

After 14 years of Tories, every country seems ahead of the UK

[@skasteve6528]

14 years of tory government would make Denmark an economic basket case.

[@gonz808]

And with Starmer it is going to get worse

[@blueblack3591]

Sad

[@OmmerSyssel]

Though we still lack the impressive amount of sharia courts ...! 🤗 Merry Christmas ✝️🎄🍻

[@Rakibrown111]

And made even worse now by Labour. I think your issues are deeper than whichever of your Kings representatives you chose.

[@jensrasmussen4626]

I belong to the working class and am now retired. I must say that the tax burden, here in Denmark, is not a problem and that as a pensioner you live a comfortable life, with enough money :-)) properly the best place to live

[@dajmos6969]

I love how in Denmark you can register your own company just going online !Crazy comparing to Poland fx where i grew up and with all cases you have to go personally

[@danis8455]

I lived in UK 15 years ago. And i would say living standards in UK then was about like they were in the late 80s/early 90s in Denmark.

[@CoolSocialist]

*Another brilliant video*

[@hansmarheim7620]

As a Norwegian immigrant to Denmark, for almost 20 years, working for both small and big Danish companies i have to say this: Danes are effective and hard working. I see it every day. The few lazy ones are fired faster than you can say: " You are fired". And as a former employer i have to add this: If i wore to chose between one lazy Dane, and two hardworking Norwegians; i would choose the one lazy Dane.

[@vegardbakken]

😂😂

[@TheGammelfjols]

people with normal salaries do not pay very much in income tax in Denmark. we pay approx. 35%, my wife and I together, with the high tax burden only affecting those with incomes over 1.4 million dkk per year or approx. 185,000 euros per year, the tax on housing only affects the housing that is expensive, and a normal Danish house costs around 1 to 2 million dkk, or 133,000-266,000 euros. and here the tax is relatively low, if you look at the median income, it is approx. 371,000 dkk per year, 50,000 euros per year, you look at incomes over 500,000 dkk per year, with just over 10% of the population earning more than this amount. in other words, the high Danish taxes primarily affect those with high incomes and who live in expensive houses, who then also have the highest land interest in unearned gains., then my advise to you in UK is raise the tax on housing it will lover the prise on housing and make a revenu you can spend on welfare. like in my Denmark

[@71kimg]

Not true - you also pay 25% vat - taxes on energy, insurance and alike and relatively - “normal people” in Denmark pay wayyy more taxes than the average country (throughout their life). So while you are right - it’s relatively wrong compared to almost all other countries. In poor countries - it’s often just the rich that pays taxes. Close to none for the rest.

[@frederiktherkildsen]

Is it really true that only 10 procent of our population earn 500k dkk per year before tax? It seems really low to me. My guess would be around 50 procent. Can you provide a source for this? Does your number include kids, students and pensions? Or it is the actually workforce? I'm well educated and living in Copenhagen so I know that my perception is not the general, but I'm a bit surprised by that number

[@jenspetersen5865]

@@frederiktherkildsen Try DST - a couple of years back - believe 2020 the median (half earn more/half earn less) was 334.000kr including pension etc.

[@jenspetersen5865]

Actually - in Denmark people with low income pay the highest taxes in the world, with taxes being charged from the first krone earned. Further, Denmark has the highest retirement age, and one of the highest rates of women working. Take out Novo and Maersk, and the Danish economy would be similar to Italy.

[@71kimg]

@@KurtFrederiksen i am not saying that the tax burden is high - what I am saying is that taxes are more paid by common/normal people than most countries. The other extreme is countries like South Africa - we’re rich basically pays all the taxes.

[@bjrnhjjakobsen2174]

Great video🇩🇰🇩🇰 well done research

[@davetherave1230]

I was surprised to see that french house price to income ratios are higher than the uk, i thought housing was cheaper in france

[@l3eatalphal3eatalpha]

Possibly driven up by economic migrants. Escaping the UK.

[@smellypunks]

Yes me to. Also surprised see that Spain spend so much of the income on housing.

[@Hession0Drasha]

It is, in the suburbs and towns. But all the big cities are expensive, not just the capital.

[@tancreddehauteville764]

In my opinion, yes. It it works in Denmark then it can work here. But - and this is the key - we need to eliminate tax avoidance loopholes ensure that the rich are prevented from avoiding tax. In terns of culture, the UK is traditionally anti-tax, but this mindset needs to change if we are to move forward.

[@joesoy9185]

The presenter said that it was only feasible when the average disposable income is high, not the case currently in the UK.

[@raymccrae]

Actually, I think your comment highlights why it will not work in the UK. Someone talks about a high tax economy, and your first thoughts about it is to think that means other people need to pay more tax. No an economy like Denmark means that everyone needs to pay a lot more, and that means people on average salaries need to pay a lot more and that's the real problem. The idea stops working with "tax the rich" so I that I don't need to pay more.

[@nazb1982]

@@raymccraeyes and the minimum wage in Denmark is also substantially higher. Income inequality is lower. I believe Denmark still has a wealth inequality problem but probably not in the scale of the UK

[@raymccrae]

@@nazb1982 That's fine to advocate for these type of societal changes, however those who do must present them with intellectual honesty. Far too often I see the issue presented as, your life is shit and it's all the fault of this other group (rich people not paying their "fair" share). This is pure populism, and is just as untrue as the right wing version of blaming foreigners. Someone in the UK on £35K salary, will take home £28.7K, an effective tax rate of 18% (inc NI). An honest debate on the topic has to be saying to people like this, you need to be paying something closer to 35% (almost double). Any talk of the effects on the tiny amount of truly rich people is a drop in the ocean, the metaphorical fishing industry of the Brexit debate; It gets people frothing at the mouth but it represents such a little part of the overall that it’s dishonest to focus on it.

[@nazb1982]

@@raymccrae pretty much everything is broken with the UK system housing being the biggest. £35k means net of about £2400 a month ignoring pension and student loan payments. Say £1000 for housing which is conservative, say £450 for council tax and bills, £400 for food, £100 travel leaves about £400 disposable so not much. If you are a single income household raising a family or living in London then you are underwater. I think we should be aiming for a single income household on minimum wage being able to raise two children, have a roof over their head, average food to eat and access to healthcare and education and work up from there. Around the 1950s all of these things were possible and that was perhaps when wealth and income were the most fairly shared. Having multi millionaires and especially billionaires is a failed society.

[@EEDIR-DK]

With regards to getting rid of coal in the electricity grid, that is actually one of the things that we have issues here with in Denmark. Wind and Solar is quite expensive and does not provide base load. Energy prices fluctuate quite a bit, and we are heavily depended on our neighbors in Norway and Sweden to deliver energy when wind isn't blowing. I wouldn't be surprised if we were going towards adding nuclear to be honest.

[@jonna2650]

im from denmark. living costs depends on where you live. i pay 5,500dkk/737€/618£ a month for a 160m2 house and 3200m2 land. if you go to Copenhagen they living cost is gonna be around 6000-15000dkk depening on size and location.

[@MrNegreanu12]

Nice video, couple of things: 1 - capital gains works differently in Denmark, the tax is applied to your gains per year; 2 - the danish krone value is tied to the euro value in a fixed ratio, so it’s not so much of an independent currency. Thanks for the video :)

[@lrrw-v4l]

Great video as always. I feel like higher taxes would be a right direction but as you've stated the condition of the UK economy with stagnated real wages & higher cost of living doesn't really allow for it, which is why people on the left are calling for the tax to come from corporations and the ultrarich, which may or may not have too much of an effect or many have knock-on effects. its interesting that Denmark has a lower corporation tax than the UK though. I think this feeds in to a more general point that you can't just transplant policies from one country with a completely different set of industries, demographics, economic conditions to another and expect to get the same results. Denmark is a small country, roughly half the size of England with a population around 1/10th of the UK and a population density of around half of the UK's despite being a much smaller country with a smaller economy which is easier to control. You also mention immigration, and Denmark has notoriously been quite strict regarding non-EEA immigration in the past few years and also quite strict and controlled regarding it in general. Its easier to have a good economic outlook, public services and high taxes when you have a ultra productive, highly skilled European only workforce, low net migration and an eased demand for housing that isnt rising quicker than the infrastructure allows. These are all things that all the Scandinavian countries have in common. They have a very generous welfare system, high taxes but that is paired with low population density, relatively homogenous demographics and relatively low net migration of mostly skilled European workers. If Denmark began allowing 100k+ unskilled immigrants through the door per year, i very much doubt it would be able to keep it's generous welfare state because it would begin being overwhelmed similarly to the UK's welfare state and public services and all of these economic niceties would begin to erode slowly along with it. Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark all are a bit like this, although you could argue its a bit of a chicken and the egg scenario and some of these countries are allowing more immigration and i think time will tell if that is the right decision. I went to Norway a few months ago and the UK is beginning to look like a Third World country in comparison.

[@Neezabja]

The key to economic success is a well educated (especially in STEM), highly skilled and motivated workforce. The UK for cultural reasons just doesn't satisfy this most fundamental requirement and I don't know if there's a solution.

[@antonjarltoft4087]

Denmark is definitely not perfect either. We also have insane wait lists for public health care...

[@smellypunks]

Maybe making VAT on luxury goods 25% would be worthwhile. The money could then be spent on insulating homes.

[@OmmerSyssel]

Insulating homes were a topic in DK mid 1970's after the first oil crisis. Since then prescribed by law and updated building regulations. My impression is that UK still hardly know what insulation is ... 🙈

[@smellypunks]

@@OmmerSyssel It's crazy as there is 20% VAT on insulation products so anyone wanting to DIY insulate their home has to pay VAT.

[@larskaminskidk]

Capital gains tax up to DKK 47,000 is 27% not 37%

[@verttikoo2052]

You people need to move to Euro 💶🙄 Greetings from Finland.

[@leshay8258]

upto 80000 dkr is 27 - 42 % more than 80000 from 2025

[@kimviberglund1570]

In Denmark, large companies such as Maersk and Novo are taxed at around 6%

[@SoulessStranger]

It is not mentioned but part of the free education in Denmark is also the fact that nearly every student of higher education is entitled to SU - an education support - which equals roughly to 600 pounds a month which gives young people more economic freedom such as possibility to live independently and not being forced to work while studying.

[@lilya2862]

It is not entirely true because according to the new rules, a student must work at least 10-12 per week in order to receive SU. But yes, it is great support.

[@SoulessStranger]

@@lilya2862 I am not sure if there are some exceptions but I am currently receiving SU and I do not work while studying at Uni. Maybe it is a condition for younger people under 20 or foreigners. I also could not really find anything about this at minSU.

[@lilya2862]

@SoulessStranger Yes, if you are danish or at least one of your parents is working in Denmark 😊 Otherwise, you have to work.

[@OmmerSyssel]

De mest asociale og selvoptagede borgere jeg boede sammen med i DK var faktisk forkælede studerende holdt i live af SU! (og nassende kystbanesocialister) De anede ikke hvad nattero var og var bedøvende ligeglade med arbejdende folk skulle møde, og arbejde klokken syv om MORGENEN! Tyske studerende var ikke så arrogante og egoistiske.. De respekterede sågar medborgere med fysisk arbejde! SU er ofte en urimelig sovepude for arrogante studerende, der oven i købet skal beslutte over andres liv i fremtiden, når i endelig begynder at "arbejde" som selvfede uvidende ~30 årige!

[@sorenpatriciajakobsen8841]

A major part of the success of Denmark is the system of trust. People trust each other, they trust the government, they trust companies and companies trust them etc. When you call to get your heater serviced the HVAC guy shows up on time, gets the job done and only send you a bill when the job is finished. You don't even need to be home, just tell him where you left a spare key and ask him to lock the door when he leaves and drop the key in the mailbox. Same in the workplace, people are left to do their job and they take responsibility for it. This improves productivity and induces less stress. I have lived and worked outside Denmark for 25+ years in many countries but never experienced a place where everything works so well and it sooooo easy. The cost of living may be high on paper but in reality it isn't - the HVAC guy may ask for EUR 100 per hour including VAT but he will finish the job in an hour and the work is done properly. Many other places where the labor cost is a fraction of that, you actually end up paying more because 3 people show up, they take 3 hours and usually the work has to be redone.

[@carstenf279]

We always were slightly bewildered by the British way of life. However, thankful, we are for the British backbone during ww2 - British choices after that left us in amazement. Why would You throw all that away???

[@willyjensen8595]

you are not entirely right, Denmark is just a different kettle of fish, we have big problems too...

[@ArstanWB]

Which?

[@thomasnielsen5580]

@@ArstanWB 1. Health care sector not working as intented, especially elder care. 2. housing prices in large cities being completely out of reach, especially in Copenhagen. 3. Wealth inequality between generations. 4,. The countryside is dying, everyone locates to the 4 big cites (Copenhagen, Aarhus, Aalborg and Odense). 5. While education is free, too many are taking a University Degree. Especially in fields that are not very useful in todays labour market. There is a severe lack of skilled labour, like electricians, plumbers, nurses, teachers and so on. A known issue for many years. And so on.

[@botnakke]

Time for a UK referendum for bringing back danelaw ;)

[@kaiserslavaniaashur1623]

YEEES. We danes will wellcome you back to the North Sea Emp- I mean Union!

[@martinlund7987]

wages for middleclass jobs are also wildly different. A professor I with with for a bit of my phd sent my a call for a post doc, and I was all up for it until I saw the wages were almost three fold smaller than the danish position. Whenever i see how much people in middle management, technical posistions etc make I assume it is wrong or I misrembered the currency exchange rate.

[@gustenvarius80]

A small correction. The tax on capital gains in Denmark is 27% up to 61.000 DKK and 42% thereafter.

[@lucasdeyton8842]

Without going to much into the fine details denmarks tax burden is much fairer across income classes than the uks. The uk actually has some of the most lenient tax structures for lower and middle income earners in Western Europe. To my knowledge there’s no broad application of a personal allowance in Denmark, while in the uk you don’t pay any income tax if you earn under £12k annually and you only pay 20% on anything above that up to £50k. Once you cross that mark is when the tax burden shifts dramatically. I think the uk needs a much fairer system where high earners don’t pay the brunt of taxes (top 10% of earners inclusive of the top 1% pay 2/3 of the entire tax revenue in the uk)

[@fyank1]

In reality in the U.K. the poorer people pay a much higher proportion of their earnings in tax than the rich do. That needs to change if we are to reduce inequality. Also, anti family policies in the U.K. have led to a decline in the birth rate just as we are seeing a growing older demographic. We need to root out corruption by getting rid of the donors. Political parties should be funded publically and with strict limits.

[@lucasdeyton8842]

@@fyank1 Completely agree about the family funding that needs to take place but you're incorrect about earnings. Someone on £30k takes home 83% of their income post tax while someone on £120k only takes home 63% of their income post tax. Someone on £24k would take home 87% of their income.

[@fyank1]

@@lucasdeyton8842not when you take into account all forms of taxation. Council tax, VAT etc. Sunak paid an overall tax rate of 23% on £2.2 million pounds of income in 2023. Not exactly fair and equitable.

[@lucasdeyton8842]

@fyank1 Id like to see the calculation you used to reach that conclusion, and I’m not talking about wealthy people like sunak. I’m talking about working class people, and despite what you might think anyone who has to work for a living is working class even if they’re earning 6 figures

[@steffenb.jrgensen2014]

AS yiou say, it is not the taxrate that does the trick but because people generally work well together and trust each other - ie high productivity. That has allowed for high taxes - to pay for a relatively efficient public sector to do jobs which are relatively difficult to let the market do. Focus on what will increase your productivity and only then decide how you will spend the surplus.

[@jamesr7883]

Good video and broadly accurate about the society and the economy in my opinion. One thing that helps with having a high tax system is that in a country of only 5 odd million people that hasn't experienced much migration is that everyone is near enough related if you just go back a few generations. What I mean by that is not that Danes are inbred (much) but that they share a very strong common identity that is based around their ethnicity and their similarity as a people. And it's much easier to get a small group of people who look the same and have more or less been thinking the same way for hundreds of years to do something than it is compared to a larger and more diverse population - say that of the UK or France. But no matter how strong the Danish economy and public services are one thing that people forget is that Denmark is a pretty dull country, geographically. I mean there are some nice beaches and a few nice forests left but outside of the main cities there really isn't that much to see. I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all that, but it's something that I feel should be taken into account when discussing the merits of one country verses another and it only ever seems to be about the economics. The nature in the UK, for example - the Lake District, the Jurassic coast, Bodmin and Exmoor, Snowdonia, the Grampians, etc, etc, - wipes the floor with anything Denmark has to offer. And yes, of course Danes can go to Sweden and Norway or down into Germany to get their nature fix but it's not the same. Anyway, Denmark, great country but a little dull. (lived here now for 5 years)

[@zento1702]

Denmark also has unaffordable houseing...a 60 m2 appartement in copenhagen costs around 100.000 pounds

[@bzdtemp]

You must be thinking of a remote suburb of Copenhagen. Anywhere neat the center of Copenhagen you can't buy a shoe box for £100K and a 60m2 is going to be more like £350-400K

[@zento1702]

​@@bzdtempI live on Amager, close to the center of Copenhagen. I paid 1.000.000 dkk for the appartement. 60 m². So yes it is possible

[@theapproximatetruth5400]

I mean, that is nothing compared to a flat in London - that would probably run you 4-5 times as much :) Also you don't have to live in the capital, there is a lot of fantastic places to live in Denmark that is affordable. I just purchased a farm, 10 minutes by car to Aarhus - 350 m2 (2 houses) and 100 m2 workshop and 200 m2 barn. All that and 18000 m2 land for 375.000 pounds :)

[@ArstanWB]

I bet no one is forcing you to live in Copenhagen.

[@PMMagro]

Denmark accapted not being a major power or "ought to be very important in the world" after the 1864 Schleswig wars vs the the various German states. They focus on DENMARK including the whole population of Denmark. We in Sweden have not yet accapted our really size and importance in the world and with oil money Norway lives in a soap bubble. UK on the other hand... :)

[@mmv3481]

In a lot of other countries like DENMARK, UK people ie non native people are not allowed to buy property, full stop; only rent. Or they have strict immigration rules like DENMARK's national service, or Singapore has a 60% tax at purchase for foreigners . This needs to be replicated in the UK

[@MikeRomulus]

Let me correct two things regarding the economy here in Denmark. We do have high personal debt in the population, however this is connected to the taxcode, in which the payment of that debt can be deducted from our personal tax. An example is a friend of mine who owes 60% of his house. While he could easily pay it off in a matter of years, he doesn't because of the tax deduction he benefits from it. When the average income tax is shown to be 45%, it is in actuality much closer to 35% (give or take). Now that is still high for many people, but it shows how complex taxcodes really can be.

[@davejohnston5158]

We'll call it Gulag Britain for now. Was a sweatshop but it's just a zombie economy and has been since 2008. Danish economy has managed to keep the freeloaders and con artists out. I would be interested to know if Denmark tolerates offshore tax havens for business operating within their borders.

[@madsmller4030]

If one are secured in health, pensions, school choices and overall secured for the future, it is much more exiting to follow weird and productive ideas..cause if it goes wrong, you are still in a secure personal economic system, that works.

[@kimmogensen4888]

From childhood you learn that you should work together in small groups to solve tasks because our work environment wants that, there are little top down work tasks often you as a small group is given a overall goal for your Boss and the group is intended to among themselves to find a way to achieve the goal, your boss is often more like a advisor you ask if you are stuck, and you can ask other groups for advice but mostly you are expected to fix the problems yourself and find the most effective way to solve the problem, the finished product is important, I have tried many times to have finished faster than expected with a product living up to expectations and you just take the rest of the day of, but other times you have to work extra hours especially if Germany is the costumer they have an enormous amount of suppliers and if you don’t deliver on time enough your company is blacklisted as a supplier. But the extra hours you can take of in a period with less activity

[@MasterAlfred3000]

3:06 Where is Switzerland on this list? They should be way higher than Denmark

[@ClassicGolfSwings]

Many good things about Denmark but for happiest countries it’s worth looking at per capita consumption of anti-depressants (typically the happiest are having high consumption). Many public services are good in DK but the health service is far away from the NHS, especially in specialist areas. Difficult for a country of 6 million to have enough people with special medical knowledge.

[@globe2555]

To become a country like the Danish takes a lot of development.

[@OmmerSyssel]

Is that a pillow or enforcing personal engagement? Thats the clue! To be or not to be ... ✌🏻

[@bjarkekjersidelimkilde573]

Being working in UK on serveral occasions, and there is one thing that very clear compared to Denmark where I’m from. And that is the output pr working hour it’s simply low, very low. The huges amount of paperwork even for simple straightforward jobs is a killer. And even task with no requirement for paperwork people are just self driven.

[@kimmogensen4888]

Many of our companies are export oriented, most of our GDP is exports, our government owned companies are for the most part driven like a private company, Dong energy company is 51% state owned but the state doesn’t interfere with it business, it has a veto right if the company should do something totally against the state’s interest but I have never heard of its use, it is a large part of UK electricity and also supply several US states and Germany +++. But we experiment a lot of how to run manage publicly owned companies and services providers, we don’t believe one model fits all but try to find what fits best, for some reason really good leadership seems to be the most important factor for success 🤷‍♂️

[@runedrejer8094]

As a dane, I can tell you, high taxes in general are cheaper, than insurance, or private healthcare plans..

[@robsmith1184]

The highest rate of tax in the UK is actually 60% for people earning between £100k and £126k due to the loss in personal allowance, actually when you include NI it's 63.5%. I don't mind paying higher taxes for better funding of services but this particular form of taxation really grates on me and is at a level that I think is counter productive to growing an economy.

[@ssesf]

Singapore surpassed its British ex-colonizer decades ago. A friend of mine moved from England to Denmark 50 years ago because England was inefficient and relatively poor. Things improved in the 1980s with Margaret Thatcher and UK was brought up to date.

[@PcDragonProductions]

Please share some of those 1371 working hours mate! Cause I work about 1600 hours a year with all allowed vacation. (And yes, Im a Dane, 31, electrician)

[@arunthavam2494]

It’s also big differences between population 68.35 million and Denmark 5.8 million. UK needs lots of reforms in its economy system and law enforcement to ensure the crime rate.

[@erongi233]

Danish population is 6 million. They have always been a leading economy as vjudged by per capita GDP. You can't build an economy on taxes. It s on productivity. If that is good then the taxes can follow . Small economies often do well. An economy of 6 million is a lot different from an economy of 67 million.

[@pollutingpenguin2146]

Denmark is one of the most productive countries in the world, so that simply isn’t true.

[@erongi233]

@@pollutingpenguin2146 what isn't true . First comes productivity then the more productive you get the more you produce,the more taxes you can then take. What isn't true?

[@Hession0Drasha]

You cannot get the high productivity, without the government investing in infrastructure and human capital. Which requires tax money.

[@erongi233]

@@Hession0Drasha Productivity gains are most often made by the private sector. London has high productivity because private sees to it that it happens. Public sector is often far behind.

[@verttikoo2052]

Embarrassing excuse of not doing anything. Bigger economy always benefits from economies of scale. Small economy still has to do the same homework as the big one.

[@birdakasiakwvos]

Denmark is working fine generally as a state and most local people have a (relatively) high standard of living(high salaries but high costs, mainly due to high taxation). Despite that, there are many people mostly in the capital city, Copenhagen, mainly migrants who are working part-time(registered part time but getting more hours as the company wish) labor jobs and the pay they get is sh*t compared to the cost of living. These people are working for around 13000-15000dkk net p/m, while a room is rented out for around 5000dkk/m. If you do the simple math, these people have around 8k-10k dkk (1070-1340Eur) available to spend in one of the most expensive cities in the world. Not to mention that they will never be able to buy any property in the city, or just rent a whole apartment(not just a room with a shared kitchen-wc).

[@HyggeJourney]

In the danish tax you include National Insurance Contributions... Where in the 45% in UK you haven't. Another things is the thresholds. I don't think either one of them promote a healthy living. Denmark also have the higest use of anti depression. High smoking, high cancer etc etc etc

[@kimmogensen4888]

It’s not just because of taxes, almost everyone is a member of a union even employers have their own unions and they are not crazy like French unions, workers and employers for the most part is like a symbiotic relationship, corporatism.

[@Ridz149]

Hi, do you think that we should allow universities or some universities to charge more in tuition fees? I think for some universities such as Oxford, Cambridge and LSE, could benefit from higher tuition fees because they may be able to grow and be able to educate more of our population, making them more productive. Also, if we don’t increase tuition fees, universities will just take more and more foreign students which just reduces our own country’s office productivity because less of them will have higher education.

[@Hippowdon121]

There is not a significant difference in the quality of education at Oxford, Cambridge, LSE, compared to the rest of the universities in the country. Universities in the UK are generally high quality. And these 3 you have mentioned are not suffering from a lack of funding, but an extremely high demand to get in. Unless you are meaning higher tuition fees only for foreign students. I think that UK universities are approaching a point where the (foreign) tuition fees are so high, that people from those foreign countries are realising it's not really worth it for what they get.

[@erongi233]

@@Hippowdon121 I taught in China and some parts of Chinese society are rich and will continue to pay huge fees to UK,US etc for the advantages it gives to their kids.

[@Ridz149]

@@Hippowdon121I would think the top universities make students more productive by giving them better education. How comes they do not?

[@disarchitected]

I went to top, middle and low ranking universities. When it came to facilities, their rankings bore out the breadth and quality of the campus etc. When it came to education, the programme mattered more. The middle ranking university Masters program had the strongest reputation in the country. I found the quality of industry connections and faculty a bit unbelievable, lots of exposure to industry CEO’s and lecturers who literally wrote the text books.

[@Hippowdon121]

@@Ridz149 as I am clearly telling you, there is not much difference between UK universities. Perhaps if you were to compare a UK university with a university in a developing country, then it would be a measurably better education with a meaningful difference in improving productivity.

[@-JustHuman-]

We also have WAY less immigration than the UK. So a lot of those problems that the UK has are not as high here. As it keeps getting cheap labor, and needs more houses than are built each year, with more crime added too.

[@Astrix321]

tax is high, food prices are high, houses/apartments are almost unaffordable in copenhagen unless u have atleast 60-100K£ to pay the 10-15% of the loan u need to buy something. 2-3 apartment rent is 2500-3000 £ a month. almost everything else is extremely expensive too..

[@JokerInk-CustomBuilds]

Dane here who grew up in rural africa and has since travelled the world. We were never behind... and there is no place as good for all as Denmark, sweeden or Norway. No other country even comes close to the average level of luxury we have in scandinavia...

[@thoso1973]

Every academic analysis made here on the subject, agrees that investing tax funds into education, easily pays for itself in the long run and then some. The secret sauce that explains high productivity in DK in all sectors, is a highly educated, skilled and motivated workforce - and maintaining it through investments.

[@NK-vd8xi]

Could you do a video about Georgism?

[@szakacsattila9985]

Higher taxes will not solve nothing in the UK when that british billionaire explaining on youtube shorts how to avoid paying taxes. While for example Novo Nordisk and Maersk stated that they are going to stay in Denmark and pay their taxes there.

[@steviemac8075]

Best to move to Denmark it’s a lovely place with great people. Our crooked politicians would make you pay Scandinavian tax rates and give you Ugandan service standards and trouser the cash. U.K. is a basket case get out if you can.

[@kasperkjrsgaard1447]

It may be slightly difficult for non-EU nations.

[@k.laurent2574]

@@kasperkjrsgaard1447 Indeed, which is why I urged my british friends to wilson to Denmark, while they were brexiting. But they choose poorly.

[@kimmogensen4888]

The windmills we have in Denmark are definitely not an economic advantage burning coal would be cheaper. We pay directly and indirectly much more for electricity than before lots of windmills

[@finncarlbomholtsrensen1188]

As a Dane we don't complain that much about our High Taxes, as we know we also get much back from it! As my Family life expectancy made me not consider a Pension as an investment, I only collected a reasonable fortune and as now 76, I'm a wealthy, Public Pensioner with no debt at all!

[@MrTheatrick]

Wasnt living standards in denmark allways better then the UK? Just asking

[@hobber_]

also denmark have a high export with net surplus rather than deficit

[@klavshenriksen7113]

Dk might pay with the DKK but for all intents and purposes it is firmly tied to the EUR and is in ERM2, so DK and UK might looks similar insofar they don't pay with EUR but that is the only similarity.

[@sermandet2022]

In DK you get a lot of deduction from taxes, so it is more like 35%

[@Finnec123]

When comparing 'Real GDP per capita' you have to take taxes into consideration, if not already.

[@Mads_on_YT]

Danish person here. This video is pretty spot on. We're a people with a productivity mindset and the country has a very diversified economy. However, I, and many others, would argue that we are succeeding in spite of ridiculously high taxes. One issue we are having is that startups leave the country before they grow big, meaning our economy is driven by very old companies (same as in most of Europe). Denmark would likely do even better if taxes were lowered a bit across the board, and if our bureaucracy was trimmed a bit. Regardless, it's true that there is a feeling that our welfare system does work very decently. The UK's greatest issue is your idiotic electoral system. Fix that first.

[@re_patel]

In the U.K, I don't think we should raise taxes, because I don't think the extra money would be spent wisely!

[@bzdtemp]

On taxes it is worth including that non-EV cars and motorbikes are taxed like crazy. With cars there is part of the base cost which are not taxed, but as a sort of rule of thumb if you buy a car you pay for three! The reason being car taxes at 160% when they kick and on top there is the 25%, so most cars in Denmark tend to be of the smaller/cheaper kinds. And the more luxury ones are just beyond what most people want and maybe can pay. Example, a base BMW 320i is just a 40,000 £ in the UK, the same car is almost £68,000 in Denmark. With the more expensive cars the difference is even bigger since more of the price of the car is hit with taxes, a base Porsche 911 is £100,000 in the UK and same car in Denmark is £274,300. With motorbikes it is worse, as the taxes already apply from the first £, so there isn't that many motorbikes in Denmark. In short, being a car fan is costly in Denmark. And it is not just buying, the high prices also mean high insurance premiums and there is even a fee for having plats on the things that are not nothing either. Still we do get a lot for our money, so although painful I am happy to pay my taxes.

[@svennielsen633]

There are two things to consider: - you have to have incomes that can be taxed - how "public money" is used or wasted.