Denmark increases GDP growth forecast but insists it is not all driven by success of weight-loss drugs

The Danish economy has benefited from drugmaker Novo Nordisk, which has seen huge success with its weight-loss drug Wegovy and diabetes treatment Ozempic. Picture: Mario Tama/Getty Images

Denmark lifted its economic growth forecast for this year and next on the back of stronger employment and pharmaceutical exports and said growth would become less dependent on the success of weight-loss drug maker Novo Nordisk.

The government said it expected gross domestic product to grow by 2.7% this year and 1.8% next year, up from a December forecast of 1.4% and 1%, respectively.

"The Danish economy has proven to be remarkably robust," the country's economy minister Stephanie Lose said.

"Despite high inflation worldwide, rising interest rates and stagnant economies abroad, neither the labour nor the housing market in Denmark has come to a standstill. On the contrary," she said.

The Danish economy has benefited from drugmaker Novo Nordisk, which has seen huge success with its weight-loss drug Wegovy and diabetes treatment Ozempic. Last year's economic growth of 1.9% was almost entirely due to growth in the pharmaceutical industry.

Novo Nordisk is ramping up production of its blockbuster drugs to meet excessive demand, investing in new and existing manufacturing facilities.

The success of Ozempic and Wegovy drugs has transformed Novo into Europe’s most valuable company and been a key driver of Danish economic growth in recent years, triggering worries over the small country’s reliance on the drugmaker.

- Reuters, Bloomberg