Denmark: regional profile for digital health innovators

Are you a UK-based health innovator looking to explore international markets? Throughout 2025 and 2026, the Health Innovation Network (HIN) South London and its DigitalHealth.London programmes will be supporting innovators considering international expansion. Find out about our new expert-led webinar series, and scroll to the bottom of this page to watch our webinar focused on Denmark.

Why Denmark?

For UK-based health and care innovators, Denmark offers an attractive entry point into the Nordic healthcare market. It is a small and digitally mature health system with universal coverage, strong public funding, and a long track record of adopting digital health at scale. English is widely used in professional and research settings, and Danish stakeholders are generally open to international collaboration.

Denmark has over 50 years of health data stored digitally for the entire population. It has achieved near-complete digitalisation of health records, e-prescribing, and patient portals. National platforms include the health portal “sundhed.dk”, and the shared electronic record “e-Journalen”.

Like the UK, Denmark faces pressures from an ageing population, multimorbidity, workforce constraints, and rising expectations for accessible, person-centred care. This creates strong demand for solutions in chronic disease management, remote monitoring, clinical AI, and technologies that support integrated care pathways across primary, secondary, and municipal services.

For UK innovators, Denmark’s combination of high digital readiness, clear governance, and manageable system scale makes it an ideal testbed for evidence generation, co-development, and scaling into the wider Nordic markets.

Country profile

Population: approx. 6 million (end-Q4 2025).

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita: €47,800 (above the EU average of €38,100 and above the OECD average).

Healthcare spending as proportion of GDP: 9-10% in 2024 (In line with average for OECD countries)

Economic growth: 3.5% (2024).

Total annual spend on health care (2024): approx. 278 billion DKK (≈£32.3 billion)

Denmark is a relatively small, highly urbanised and well-connected country, with most of the population living within easy reach of hospitals and primary care services. The health system (mainly tax-funded) serves around 6 million inhabitants and is organised across three administrative levels: the state, five regions (to be four by 2027), and 98 municipalities.

Danish patient health data is notable in that it is highly integrated and linkable. A unique personal identifier, the civil registration number, has been given to all Danish citizens at birth since 1968. Every interaction a Danish citizen has with the healthcare system is digitally recorded and stored. This includes data from being seen in primary care, by specialists, an emergency room visit, and medication records.

Denmark’s relatively small size, high digital literacy, and strong public trust in institutions support rapid implementation of national reforms and digital solutions once agreed. For UK innovators, this means that successful pilots can often be scaled across regions and municipalities more quickly than in larger, more fragmented systems.

Healthcare market dynamic

Denmark has a universal, predominantly tax-funded health system. All registered residents are entitled to publicly financed health services that are largely free at the point of use, including hospital care, general practice, and many community-based services.

The system is structured across three levels:

1. State.
   • The state sets overall regulatory and financial frameworks, national health plans, and quality goals.
2. Regions.
   • Regions are responsible for hospitals, general practice contracts, and some specialised services.
3. Municipalities.
   • Municipalities are responsible for prevention, rehabilitation, home care, and many long-term care services.

Health expenditure in Denmark is relatively high compared with the EU average, reflecting sustained investment in hospital infrastructure, workforce, and digital health. The Danish government’s policy agenda emphasises:

• Strengthening primary care and general practice as coordinators of patient pathways.
• Shifting care closer to home, with municipalities playing a larger role in prevention, rehabilitation, and long-term care.
• Using digital tools and data to support integrated care, reduce hospital admissions, and manage chronic disease more effectively.

Digital innovation landscape

Denmark is widely regarded as a trailblazer in digital health, with a digitalisation rate close to 99% across core health services. Electronic health records, e-prescriptions, and digital communication between providers have been standard for many years, and the country continues to invest in AI, robotics, and advanced analytics to further transform care delivery.

National digital health is coordinated through a set of shared platforms and governance structures that enable interoperability and data sharing across regions and sectors. This environment is highly relevant for UK innovators with interoperable, standards-based solutions that can plug into existing infrastructure.

Regulatory pathways

Medical devices, including Software as a Medical Device (SaMD), are regulated under the EU Medical Device Regulation (MDR), which Denmark implements through its national competent authority (the Danish Medicines Agency). Digital health solutions that qualify as medical devices must comply with MDR requirements, including clinical evaluation, risk management, and post-market surveillance.

For non-device digital health tools (e.g., workflow support, communication platforms), regulatory requirements focus on data protection, information security, and interoperability standards set by national authorities and MedCom. Solutions intended for use in public hospitals or municipal services typically need to align with regional procurement frameworks and technical standards.

UK innovators with CE/UKCA-marked products under MDR-aligned processes will find many regulatory concepts familiar, but should plan for:

• Local classification and conformity assessment under MDR.
• Engagement with regional procurement and IT governance to ensure compatibility with existing systems.
• Evidence of clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness to support adoption decisions.

Infrastructure readiness

Regional electronic health records feed into sundhed.dk, providing a single platform where clinicians and citizens can access national services (e.g. medication lists, test results, and patient summaries).

The Danish Health Data Authority is investing in national data projects and has contacted vendors for national development work in digital health.

Practical integration of innovations still typically requires regional IT engagement because clinical systems remain regionally managed. Find out more about Denmark’s existing digital health solutions: Examples of digital health solutions – The Danish Health Data Authority.

Data governance, privacy, and cybersecurity

Data governance in Denmark is grounded in the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), supplemented by national legislation on health data and sector-specific rules.

• The Danish Health Data Authority and the Danish Data Protection Agency (Datatilsynet) play central roles in overseeing the use of health data.

Organisations seeking to integrate with national systems (e.g., sundhed.dk, regional electronic health records, telemedicine platforms) must demonstrate compliance with:

• GDPR.
• National security requirements.
• Technical standards for interoperability.

UK innovators will need clear documentation on data governance, privacy-by-design, and security certifications.

Cultural and adoption factors

Clinical and economic evidence is important in Denmark. Danish clinicians and commissioners are often pragmatic and therefore likely to favour technologies that show evidence of:

• Benefit to the population.
• Cost-effectiveness.
• Interoperability.

The Danish Health Technology Council (Behandlingsrådet) and the Danish Medicines Agency (Lægemiddelstyrelsen) provide evaluations and guidance.

Funding and support

Funding and support tend to cluster around large national innovation funds, data infrastructure programmes, and collaborative European funding frameworks. A few of the main channels are:

• European Union: Horizon Europe & EU Health Programmes.
• Innovation Fund Denmark (Innovationsfonden)
  • This is Denmark’s central national innovation agency that funds transformative R&D and innovation. Projects are typically co-funded with industry and research partners.
• University & Hospital Research Funds
  • Many Danish university hospitals operate internal innovation and translational funds. Contact research offices of interest for information on opportunities for co-funded projects.

Opportunities for UK innovators

• The Danish market is particularly favourable for patient-facing digital innovations, with citizens digitally literate and the use of national electronic services for health being their norm.
• Partnering with regional hospitals and municipalities on chronic disease management and integrated elderly care.
• Success in Denmark can provide rigorous evidence to support later scale into larger Nordic markets.

Webinar recording