When Danish companies sell goods and services abroad, they create jobs far beyond the companies that export directly.
In Lolland, 44.4 per cent of private-sector employment is directly or indirectly linked to exports. In Guldborgsund, the figure is 40.8 per cent, while in Vordingborg it is 40.9 per cent.
This is shown in an analysis by the Confederation of Danish Industry based on figures from Statistics Denmark. The calculation includes both jobs in exporting companies themselves and employment among, for example, their suppliers.
At the same time, exports to the country that matters most to Danish SMEs are declining. In 2025, small and medium-sized companies exported goods worth DKK 38.2 billion to Germany. Two years earlier, the figure was DKK 41.2 billion.
- Germany is and remains the most important export market for small and medium-sized companies. That is why it is concerning that exports have declined in recent years, says Jesper Beinov, Director at SMVdanmark.
Despite the decline, Germany remains well ahead of other markets. Sweden, in second place, bought goods worth DKK 26.9 billion from Danish SMEs last year, while SMEs overall account for almost one in every three Danish export kroner to Germany.
The development is particularly relevant to Lolland-Falster and South Zealand, where the Fehmarn link will eventually make the route to the German market significantly shorter. At the same time, SMVdanmark expects Germany to become even more important in the coming years.
- Germany has been through some difficult economic years, and that can be felt as well, says Jesper Beinov.
The organisation points, among other things, to geopolitical uncertainty and US trade policy as factors that could lead more Danish companies to focus on nearby European markets.
