Denmark - Consumer Price Index (CPI)

For Denmark, the consumer price index (first-level branches) and the Eurostat-standradized harmonized index of consumer prices (general index only).

The source writes:

The purpose of the consumer price index is to measure the development of the prices charged to consumers for goods and services bought by private households in Denmark. The consumer price index has been calculated since 1914, but there are estimated figures for the development in consumer prices back to 1872. From January 1967 the index has been calculated on a monthly basis.

The consumer price index shows the development of prices for goods and services bought by private households in Denmark. Thus, the index also covers foreign households' consumption expenditure in Denmark, but not Danish households' consumption expenditure abroad. The index shows the monthly changes in the costs of buying a fixed basket of goods, the composition of which is made up in accordance with the households' consumption of goods and services. It can best be characterised as a fixed weight index of a Laspeyres-type. The prices that are included in the consumer price index are the prices paid by the consumers, i.e. including VAT and taxes and after deduction of any subsidies. The only exception to this is rent payments where the total rent, i.e. the share of rent payments plus any housing benefits, is included.

Consumer price index

Active:

• Source table: PRIS01
• Classification: ECOICOP v2
• Measurement: Fixed-base index relative to 2025 (Index 2025=100)
• Adjustment: Not seasonally adjusted (NSA)
• Native frequency: Monthly
• Start date: 2000m12

Predecessors:

• ECOICOP v1, 2015=100 - 2001m1 to 2025m12
• 2000=100 - 1980* to 2015

Global concept alias:

• CPI

Harmonized index of consumer prices

Active:

• Source table: PRIS07
• Measurement: Fixed-base index relative to 2025 (Index 2025=100)
• Adjustment: Not seasonally adjusted (NSA)
• Native frequency: Monthly
• Start date: 1995m12

Predecessor(s):

• 2015=100 - 2006m1 to 2025m12
• 2005=100 - 1996* to 2015

Global concept alias:

• HICP

The source writes:

The consumer price index is calculated on the basis of 25,000 prices collected from approx. 1,800 shops, companies and institutions throughout Denmark. The prices are collected by letter, by use of price lists for major chain stores, etc., or by means of price collectors who visit the individual shops. Some prices are also obtained via the Internet. Most prices are by far collected monthly. For goods and services, where prices typically change less frequently, prices are collected more rarely, for instance quarterly or biannually. The index weights for the detailed indices (elementary aggregate indices) are calculated on the basis of data from the national accounts on final consumption expenditure of households in Denmark, supplemented by detailed information from the Household Budget Survey.

The weights are calculated on the basis of data from the national accounts on final consumption expenditure of households in Denmark, distributed among 70 commodity groups. For each of these, a further division is made by using the detailed information on consumption expenditure of Danish households from the Household Budget Survey. The weights were last adjusted in connection with calculating the index for January 2016 and are based on private consumption expenditure in 2014. The weights are updated on a yearly basis. Up till December 2000 the index was calculated with 1980=100 as the base year. From January 2001 until December 2015 the index was calculated with 2000=100 as the base year. As from January 2016 the index is calculated with 2015=100.

Statistical concepts

• Population: The population consists of the goods and services, which are included in the consumption expenditure of domestic households and private foreign visitors to Denmark. The structure of the sample implies that it is as representative as possible in relation to geographic location, population, commodity groups, and types of shops.
• Variables:

Prices: prices of the goods and services that are included in the index.

Shop weights: weights for specific shops, chain stores, etc. from which prices are collected, based on information about market shares, etc.

Unit weights: weights for some well-defined goods/services, based on information about market shares, etc.

Elementary aggregate weights: weights used for weighting the elementary aggregate indices, which are then used for compiling sub-indices and an aggregate consumer price index.

• Statistical measurements: The different goods and services, which are included in the consumer price index, are first grouped according to approx. 500 elementary aggregates for which elementary aggregate indices are calculated. The elementary aggregate indices are mainly calculated as geometric indices. The elementary aggregate indices are weighted together into sub-indices that are in turn aggregated into the total consumer price index.
• Groupings: The grouping of data and calculations take place in accordance with COICOP (Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose).

The consumer price index is related to the European Union harmonised consumer price index (HICP) and to the index of net retail prices. From January 2001, the only difference between the national consumer price index and the HICP is the coverage of goods and services, as owner-occupied dwellings is only recorded in the consumer price index and not in the HICP.

The consumer price index and the index of net retail prices comprise the same groups of goods and services and are calculated according to the same methodology. Consequently, the only difference between the two indices is the price concept used and the weighting.

Moody's Analytics supplements

We back-extend the general index for the CPI and CPI-H. We seasonally adjust them using the U.S. Census Bureau's X-13ARIMA-SEATS program.

For base 2015: CPI (1967 to 2000), CPI-H (1995 to 2005). 

For base 2025: CPI 1967m1 to 2000m11, CPI-H 1995m1 to 1995m11.

The common procedures and principles of the Revision Policy are for some statistics supplemented by a specific revision practice.

Only final figures are published.

Further reading

At the source:

• Statbank: Consumer price index
• Statistics by subject: Consumer price index
• Documentation: Consumer Price Index
• Documentation of statistics for Consumer Price Index 2026 (pdf)
• Statbank: Harmonised index of consumer prices
• Statistics by subject: Harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP)
• Documentation: Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP)
• Revision Policy for Statistics Denmark

At Eurostat:

• Harmonised indices of consumer prices (HICP) » Overview

At IMF (SDDS Plus):

• Price index: Consumer prices (Jan 2026)

• Sep 2005 - Initial version.
• Jan 2012 - For CPI-H, supplement of back-extension and SA.
• Mar 2016 - Rebased to 2015.
• 13 Feb 2026, Phillip Thorne - CPI rebased to 2025: Properties, Moody's Analytics supplements, Further reading.