Software Developer Statistics in Denmark: Shortage, Salaries and Freelancing (2026)

Software developer statistics for Denmark show a well-paid tech workforce that is large for the size of the country, yet still hard to hire from. Eurostat counted 175,500 ICT specialists in Denmark in 2025, 5.7% of total employment against an EU average of 5.0%, and Statistics Denmark puts a software developer's average monthly earnings at DKK 66,986 (about €9,000) including pension.

I'm a freelance developer based in Denmark with a stake in these numbers, so I've stuck to official sources (Statistics Denmark, Eurostat and PROSA, the Danish IT union) and flagged every calculation of my own.

The short answer: Denmark vs the EU in 14 numbers

These sources don't measure exactly the same thing. Eurostat's "ICT specialist" covers everyone from IT support to IT managers, while Statistics Denmark can separate out software developers. If you want to know what those roles actually do day to day, my guide to the different types of developers breaks them down.

How many software developers work in Denmark?

1. 175,500 ICT specialists, 5.7% of the workforce

According to Eurostat's data on ICT specialists in employment, 175,500 people in Denmark worked as ICT specialists in 2025. That's 5.7% of total employment, above the EU average of 5.0% but well behind Sweden, which leads the EU at 8.9%. Eurostat lists Denmark among the countries with a relatively high share.

My take: this number overstates how many people build software. The definition also includes IT support, networking, operations and IT management. If you're sizing the pool of people who could write code for you, only part of that 175,500 does so every day.

2. Ten years of growth, then a plateau

Between 2015 and 2025, the number of ICT specialists in Denmark rose from 122,100 to 175,500, an increase of 44%. The EU grew faster over the same period, by 59%. And the Danish curve has flattened: 176,800 in 2023, 177,200 in 2024 and 175,500 in 2025.

The data doesn't explain why. My guess is that many companies became more cautious about hiring after the busy years around 2021-2022, but that's an interpretation, not a statistic. For a buyer, it means the market is slightly less overheated than a few years ago. It doesn't mean experienced developers are waiting by the phone.

3. About 32,000 full-time software developers

Statistics Denmark breaks the numbers down by job function. Its salary statistics counted 31,647 full-time software developers in 2024, almost double the 16,739 in 2015. On top of that come 17,635 systems analysts, 5,149 people in testing and other software roles, and 3,330 web and multimedia developers.

The whole "software and applications development and analysis" group adds up to 60,239 full-time positions. That's the closest thing to an official count of developers in Denmark. Because small private companies and the self-employed aren't included, the real number is higher.

Denmark's developer shortage compared with the EU

Every few years, Eurostat asks European companies with at least 10 employees whether they tried to hire ICT specialists and whether it was hard. The figures below come from Eurostat's survey on hard-to-fill ICT vacancies, where the latest round covers hiring in 2023.

4. Almost a third of Danish companies employ ICT specialists

In 2024, 30.9% of Danish companies had ICT specialists on staff, against 20.1% across the EU. Only Malta had a higher share. Danish businesses rely on in-house tech people more than almost anyone else in Europe.

That cuts both ways when you hire. You're not only competing with software houses and agencies, but with banks, manufacturers and public bodies looking for the same profiles.

5. Danish companies recruit tech talent more than most of Europe

16.0% of Danish companies recruited or tried to recruit ICT specialists. The EU average was 9.6%, Germany 12.0% and Sweden 10.1%. Measured this way, demand in Denmark is higher than in its larger neighbors.

6. About half of them struggle to fill the roles

8.0% of all Danish companies had ICT vacancies that were hard to fill, roughly half of those that tried to hire. The EU figure was 5.5%. Germany was slightly higher than Denmark at 8.7%, while Sweden was close to the EU average at 5.4%.

The pressure has eased. In the previous round, 11.8% of Danish companies reported hard-to-fill ICT roles, so the shortage is less acute than it was. Denmark is still above the EU average, though.

7. The gap is skills and experience, not applicants

Eurostat also asks why hiring was hard. Measured as a share of the Danish companies that recruited, the picture looks like this:

• Applicants lacked relevant qualifications: about 43%
• Applicants lacked work experience: about 38%
• Too few applicants: about 33%
• Salary expectations too high: about 29%

Companies can give more than one reason. Across the EU as a whole, too few applicants is the most common reason at about 43%. In Denmark it comes third, which suggests the Danish problem is less about headcount and more about finding people with the right skills. That lines up with the practical difference between junior and senior developers that I cover in my comparison of junior, mid-level and senior developers.

Software developer salaries in Denmark

8. About €9,000 a month for a software developer

In 2024, the average software developer in Denmark had standardized monthly earnings of DKK 66,986 (about €8,980), according to Statistics Denmark. The figure includes pension and some allowances. The average across all employees was DKK 50,652 (about €6,790), so software developers earn roughly 32% more.

Roles differ. Systems analysts averaged DKK 69,868 (about €9,370), while web and multimedia developers averaged DKK 54,617 (about €7,320). Median hourly earnings for software developers were DKK 401, or about €54.

One surprising detail: from 2015 to 2024, average software developer earnings rose 21%, while the average for all employees rose 28%. A likely explanation is that the group nearly doubled in size, and many new, younger developers pull the average down. That's my reading, not something the data shows directly.

9. 4.2% pay rises from 2025 to 2026

PROSA's 2026 salary survey is based on 2,642 IT professionals in the private sector. Pay rose 4.2% from January 2025 to January 2026, and with inflation at 1.9%, that's a real-terms increase of 2.3%.

In PROSA's "build" category, which includes software developers, systems developers and DevOps engineers, the average was DKK 63,812 (about €8,550) a month including fixed allowances, bonuses and employer pension contributions. That's a little below the Statistics Denmark figure because the method and population differ. Use the two as a range.

10. Graduate salaries vary by €1,500 a month

PROSA's figures for recent graduates in 2026 show a wide spread by education:

• MSc in computer science: DKK 55,427 (about €7,430)
• Professional bachelor in IT security: DKK 50,411 (about €6,760)
• Master's in IT (cand.it.): DKK 48,231 (about €6,470)
• Self-taught: DKK 44,653 (about €5,990)
• AP degree in computer science (datamatiker): DKK 43,885 (about €5,880)

Self-taught developers start above graduates of the AP degree. Education affects the starting salary, but after a few years, what someone has built usually counts for more than their diploma.

Freelance developers in Denmark

11. Around 5,000 self-employed in IT consulting

At the end of November 2024, 5,029 people were self-employed in the IT consulting industry, according to Statistics Denmark's employment data. In 2015 the figure was 5,316. Over the same period, total employment in the industry grew from 48,882 to 70,866, so the self-employed share fell from 10.9% to 7.1%.

Treat this as a rough indicator. Many Danish freelancers run their business as a limited company (ApS) and typically count as employees of their own company, and not everyone self-employed in the industry is a developer. The direction is clear, though: freelancers make up a smaller part of the industry than they did ten years ago.

12. €105-135 an hour is a realistic starting point

There are no official statistics on freelance rates. My rule of thumb is that a freelancer needs to charge 2-2.5 times an employee's hourly pay to cover pension, holidays, sick days, equipment and the hours that can't be billed. Apply that to the DKK 401 median and you get roughly DKK 800-1,000, or about €105-135, an hour excluding VAT for an experienced developer. Specialists and architects charge more.

That's well above what nearshore and offshore teams typically quote. Whether it's expensive for you depends on how many hours you need and how much coordination you can take on yourself, which I work through in my developer cost comparison.

Gender, age and education

13. One in five ICT specialists is a woman

21.1% of Danish ICT specialists were women in 2025. That's slightly above the EU average of 19.5%, but down from 22.6% in 2023.

The gender gap and the shortage are connected. The EU's goal is 20 million employed ICT specialists by 2030, with a more even gender balance. In 2025 there were just over 10 million. At the pace of the past ten years, roughly 400,000 a year, the EU won't get there (my calculation). As long as four out of five ICT specialists are men, a large part of the potential talent never becomes developers.

14. Younger than ten years ago, and less often degree-educated

The share of Danish ICT specialists under 35 rose from 27.3% in 2015 to 33.6% in 2025. Eurostat singles out Denmark because this goes against the EU trend, where the share has held steady at around 36%.

62.1% of Danish ICT specialists have a tertiary education, below the EU average of 68.6%. Plenty of people come into the field through other routes. When you assess a developer, past projects and references tell you more than education alone.

What the numbers mean if you're hiring

Statistics won't build your product, but they can make your expectations realistic. Here's what I'd take away:

If you want to hire in Denmark, plan for a long search. One in six Danish companies with at least 10 employees tried to recruit ICT specialists, and qualified, experienced developers are the hardest to find. Unless you need full-time development for years, hiring is rarely the fastest route. I've laid out the trade-offs in my guide to choosing a freelance or full-time developer.

If you're outside Denmark, expect Danish prices. A Danish developer costs more than most nearshore options. What you get is the same EU legal framework, including GDPR, and a CET time zone. For work that can be specified precisely upfront, a team in Central or Eastern Europe may well be the better choice. When requirements change as you go, coordination costs tend to eat the savings, as I explain in my look at the pros and cons of offshore development.

Freelancers are a small group. Good ones often have work booked weeks or months ahead. Get in touch early, even if you don't have every detail settled.

To be fair to the alternatives: if you need someone full-time for years and have a person who can manage a developer, hiring is often a better fit than a freelancer like me, whatever the shortage figures say.

Next steps: from statistics to your project

These numbers are averages. Your project has its own needs for experience, technology and timing. Start by working out what kind of help it really requires, for example with my guide to what kind of developer you need.

If you want to see what I can help with, take a look at my services as a freelance developer. I build websites, web apps, SaaS products and integrations, and you work directly with me, the person writing the code.

Frequently asked questions

How many software developers is Denmark short of?+

There's no official figure for how many developers Denmark is short of. Industry groups publish projections, but they use different definitions and assumptions, so they can't be compared directly. The most comparable measure is Eurostat's survey of companies with hard-to-fill ICT vacancies, where Denmark sits above the EU average. Use projections as a direction, not a precise number.

Can a company outside Denmark hire a Danish freelance developer?+

Yes. A Danish freelancer can work for and invoice businesses anywhere. Within the EU, B2B services are usually invoiced without Danish VAT under the reverse-charge rules, provided your company has a valid VAT number. You don't need a local entity, and contracts, IP transfer and GDPR terms work as they would with any EU supplier. Check the tax details with your own accountant.

Do freelance developers in Denmark earn more than employees?+

Not necessarily, even though their hourly rate is far higher than an employee's hourly pay. A freelancer pays for their own pension, holidays, sick days, equipment, insurance and training, and can rarely bill every working hour. Time spent on sales, admin and gaps between projects also has to come out of the rate. A high rate isn't the same as a high income.

How often are these statistics updated?+

I update this page once a year. Eurostat publishes figures on ICT specialists in employment annually, while its company survey on recruitment comes out every few years. Statistics Denmark's salary data is also annual but lags, so the newest figures are often one to two years old. PROSA's most recent salary survey is from summer 2026.

Will AI reduce demand for developers in Denmark?+

It's too early to see in the official data, which runs one to two years behind. My view is that AI tools make experienced developers faster at routine work but don't replace the need for someone who understands architecture, security and the business. According to Eurostat, qualifications and experience are exactly what Danish companies already find hardest to hire.