Home / Country / Denmark vs Sweden

Denmark vs Sweden

Price level and homicide-based safety head to head, plus every ICP category both Denmark and Sweden publish. Statistics, not reviews.

Price gap 13%Safety gap +3 ptsCommunication +41%Price categories 25Release v2026-08Price gap 13%Safety gap +3 ptsCommunication +41%Price categories 25Release v2026-08Price gap 13%Safety gap +3 ptsCommunication +41%Price categories 25Release v2026-08Price gap 13%Safety gap +3 ptsCommunication +41%Price categories 25Release v2026-08Price gap 13%Safety gap +3 ptsCommunication +41%Price categories 25Release v2026-08Price gap 13%Safety gap +3 ptsCommunication +41%Price categories 25Release v2026-08

1Visa-free traveltourist stays

Do I need a visa for Denmark or Sweden

Tourist entry rules in both directions: a passport from Denmark travelling to Sweden, and a passport from Sweden travelling to Denmark.

Denmark passport → SwedenVisa-free

Sweden passport → DenmarkVisa-free

Long-term stay, either wayResidence permit

Tourist stays only, refreshed with each release. Long stays always need a consular check.

Scorecard

Line by line, who comes out ahead

A split table: Denmark wins 4, Sweden wins 4. The widest gap is housing price level, 40%.

LineDENSWEAhead

Housing price level 257.8 184.5 SWE 40%

Electricity, per kWh €0.331 €0.271 SWE 22%

Income per head, a month $6,432 $5,251 DEN 22%

Eating out price level 206.4 176.3 SWE 17%

Health price level 149.5 172.7 DEN 16%

Overall price level 104.5 90.5 SWE 15%

Income at purchasing power $7,122 $6,341 DEN 12%

Transport price level 177.7 185.6 DEN 4%

Lower wins for prices and homicides, higher for income. Lines within 2% count as level.

3Climate · capital cities

Weather and climate: Denmark against Sweden, month by month

How warm and how wet each month is, averaged over twenty years. Measured in Copenhagen and Stockholm — the capital city, not the whole country.

Pinch with two fingers to zoom · double-tap to reset.

Copenhagen · Denmark Stockholm · Sweden

Warmest

July in both — 17.9° vs 18.4°

Coldest

February (0.9°) vs January (-3.1°)

Kinder months to visit

Jun–Aug in Copenhagen · Jun–Aug in Stockholm

“Kinder months” is our own reading: a mean of 15–26 °C with moderate rain, measured at the capital.

4bFood price levels2024

Add a third country

Where food is cheaper, Denmark or Sweden

EU average = 100 for 2024: above 100 is dearer than the EU, below 100 is cheaper. These are published price levels, not prices — they say how far apart two countries are, not what a kilo costs.

Food group DEN SWE — Diff

Food, all of it the whole food basket 119.3 106.7 — -11%

Bread and cereals 136.2 108.6 — -20%

Meat 104.3 106.2 — +2%

Fish and seafood 129.7 100.9 — -22%

Milk, cheese and eggs 116.3 100.8 — -13%

Oils and fats 116.2 115.5 — -1%

Fruit, vegetables, potatoes 111.5 115.7 — +4%

Other food 140.6 107.8 — -23%

Non-alcoholic beverages 130.5 104.7 — -20%

Base: EU27_2020 = 100, 2024. Note: A price level index says how a country compares with the EU average in the same year, not what anything costs. Values above 100 mean dearer than the EU average, below 100 cheaper. Coverage is limited to EU, EFTA and candidate countries, and this block is shown only when both countries are covered. Index values are reproduced as published; the difference column is our own. The headline index beside this table sits on a different base, World = 100, so the two must not be read against each other.

3Price level · US = 100

Price levels

104.5 Denmark+15% vs Sweden

90.5 Sweden-13% vs Denmark

on the price-level index · gap 15% · Sweden cheaper

Moving to Sweden

Denmark → Sweden

Moving to Sweden buys breathing room — prices 13% lower across the board.

Price level on arrival-13%

$1,000 of spending becomes$866

Income per head-18%

Coldest month−4°C

Moving to Denmark

Sweden → Denmark

This move costs money: every $1,000 spent in Sweden becomes about $1,150 in Denmark.

Price level on arrival+15%

$1,000 of spending becomes$1,150

Income per head+22%

Coldest month+4°C

5bPay by occupation2022

Add a third country

Salary compared: Denmark and Sweden

Mean gross monthly pay in euro, 2022, before tax and social contributions. Europe publishes pay for nine broad groups of work, not for named jobs — and these are means, which large salaries pull upwards, unlike the medians in the card beside this one.

Kind of work DEN SWE — Diff

All employees every job together €4,942 €3,723 — -25%

Managers €8,867 €6,287 — -29%

Professionals €5,925 €4,330 — -27%

Technicians and associate professionals €5,731 €3,915 — -32%

Clerical support workers €4,448 €3,107 — -30%

Service and sales workers €3,491 €2,906 — -17%

Craft and related trades €4,885 €3,464 — -29%

Plant and machine operators €4,773 €3,268 — -32%

Elementary occupations €3,652 €2,611 — -29%

mean gross monthly earnings in euro, enterprises with 10 employees or more, all ages, both sexes. Note: These are means, not medians, so large salaries pull them up; they are gross, before tax and social contributions. The survey runs every four years, so 2022 is the latest round. Occupations are the nine broad ISCO-08 groups — Europe publishes nothing finer, unlike the United States. Coverage is limited to EU, EFTA and candidate countries. Earnings are reproduced as published; the difference column is our own.

5Actual pay

Actual take-home pay, before tax

The median wage: half of employees earn less than this, half earn more. Gross monthly pay in 2022, before tax and social contributions.

Median monthly payWorth after local prices

Denmarkhalf earn less €4,247 3,187 PPS

Swedenhalf earn less €3,200 2,524 PPS

Denmark pays more

Higher median pay — 33% more, and still 26% ahead once local prices are taken into account.

PPS units are the source’s own adjustment for price differences between countries.

Same life, other side

Your salary, translated

Spending of $6,432 a month — income per head in Denmark — goes as far as about $5,570 in Sweden. Income per head there is $5,251, 6% short of it — the move works better on a salary brought from elsewhere.

In DenmarkSame spending power in Sweden

$1,000$866

$3,000$2,600

$5,000$4,330

Amounts a month, before tax, scaled by the ratio of the two overall price levels — our own calculation.

4bEnergy pricesmeasured

Electricity and gas prices in Denmark and Sweden

Prices households actually pay, in euro per kilowatt-hour with every tax and levy included, as published for 2025-S2. Both rows are published figures; only the difference column is ours.

Measure DEN SWE Diff

Electricity euro per kWh as published 2025-S2 €0.331 €0.271 -18%

Natural gas euro per kWh as published 2025-S2 €0.126 €0.209 +66%

Consumption bands: electricity band DC, 2 500-4 999 kWh a year; gas band D2, 20-199 GJ a year; both including all taxes and levies. Note: Prices are per kilowatt-hour for a typical household band, including all taxes and levies, as published. Where a country has not reported the latest half-year, its most recent reported half-year is used and named in the row. Coverage is limited to EU, EFTA and candidate countries. Prices are reproduced as published; the difference column is our own. A dash means that price is not published for the country.

10What the numbers say

The split: cost favours Sweden by 13%, the homicide-based score favours Denmark by 3 points. Which matters more depends on whose paycheck crosses the border.

Editor’s note. Averages hide category stories: the widest single gap here is Communication at +41%. Budget the move by category, not by the headline number.

Release v2026-08; homicide rates carry their own year per country. World ranks — #17 and #30 of 85 by score.

11FAQ

Quick answers from the figures

Is Denmark cheaper than Sweden?

No — Sweden is 13% cheaper overall. The price levels are 90.5 in Sweden and 104.5 in Denmark, with the United States at 100.

What salary in Sweden matches $3,000 a month in Denmark?

About $2,600 a month, going by the overall price levels of the two. It is a like-for-like estimate of spending power, not a quote for any particular job.

Which costs differ most between Denmark and Sweden?

Housing and utilities — its price level is 40% higher in Denmark, the widest gap of the main spending categories.

Is household electricity cheaper in Denmark or Sweden?

In Sweden: 0.271 euro per kWh against 0.331, taxes included.

Which has milder winters, Denmark or Sweden?

Denmark. The coldest month averages 0.9°C there against -3.1°C, measured at the capital.

Where are incomes higher, Denmark or Sweden?

In Denmark: national income per head comes to about $6,432 a month against $5,251 in Sweden. That is an average across the whole population, not a typical wage.

12Keep exploring

Close cousins

Haiti vs Sweden Ireland vs Sweden Finland vs Denmark Canada vs Denmark

∑Plan your budget

What your month would cost after the move

Enter what you spend today. Each line is repriced with the ICP ratio for that category — your numbers, our coefficients.

Adults Children

Filling uses average household spending per person in each country, scaled to your household on the OECD-modified scale — the first adult counts as 1.0, every further adult as 0.5, every child as 0.3, because a second person in the same home does not double the rent or the heating. Two adults therefore stand at 1.5 people, not 2.

CategoryYou spend nowAfter the move

Rent & utilitiesHousing & utilities $ —

GroceriesFood & non-alcoholic drinks $ —

Eating outRestaurants & hotels $ —

TransportTransport $ —

HealthHealth $ —

RecreationRecreation $ —

Clothing & otherClothing & footwear $ —

Monthly total $0 $0

Starting figures are actual household spending per person (2025), scaled to your household on the OECD-modified scale and split by typical consumption shares, with category ratios from the same price survey as the basket above. Rent varies enormously by city and district — replace it with the figure you actually pay. Estimate, not advice.

Everything else

All the comparisons on this page’s two sides

All comparisons with Denmark 82

All comparisons with Sweden 74

12Compare

Another pair of countries

Country A Country B

Both directions live on the same page — order does not matter.

13Sources & licences

Sources behind this comparison

Our calculations, not official figures.

Sources: World Bank WDI · ICP 2021 · UNODC via WDI · Passport Index · NASA POWER · Eurostat · BLS · Statistics Canada · release v2026-08

Price level index (Households and NPISHs final consumption expenditure)

Rights holder: The World Bank · World Development Indicators, PA.NUS.PRVT.PLI · reference year 2025 · accessed 22 July 2026 · data.worldbank.org · licence: CC BY 4.0, reuse subject to the World Bank Dataset Terms of Use. Values are reproduced as published; United States = 100 is the indicator’s own base. Every ranking, gap and comment is a Costely calculation. Note: The World Bank does not endorse this site.

Price level indices by expenditure category

Rights holder: The World Bank · International Comparison Program 2021, measure PX.WL · benchmark year 2021, published May 2024 · accessed 22 July 2026 · worldbank.org · licence: CC BY 4.0 — commercial use permitted, subject to the World Bank Dataset Terms of Use. World = 100 — a different base from the summary index above; the two are deliberately not merged.

Intentional homicides (per 100,000 people)

Rights holder: The World Bank (distribution); original data provider: UNODC (Intentional Homicide, UN-CTS) · WDI VC.IHR.PSRC.P5 · latest available year per country, marked on the page · accessed 22 July 2026 · data.worldbank.org · licence: CC BY 4.0 — these terms describe the World Bank distribution, not a licence we assign to UNODC data. Rates are reproduced exactly as published, per 100,000 population. Note: the homicide-based score — clamp(105 − 20·ln(1 + rate), 0, 100) — is our construction, not a World Bank or UNODC indicator, and covers intentional homicide only.

Visa-free travel and entry rules

Rights holder: Passport Index (Arton Capital) · open dataset · accessed 8 August 2026 · passport-index-dataset · licence: MIT — commercial use permitted with attribution. Codes cover tourist stays only; day counts are reproduced as published. Note: entry rules change frequently — always confirm with the consulate before booking.

Monthly temperature and rainfall

Rights holder: NASA Langley Research Center · POWER Project, MERRA-2 monthly climatology, T2M and PRECTOTCORR · averaging period January 2001 – December 2020 · accessed 13 August 2026 · power.larc.nasa.gov · U.S. Government work, public domain — free to use, including commercially. Each figure is the model grid cell containing the capital city, reproduced as published. Note: the capital is not the whole country, and the “kinder months to visit” band (15–26 °C mean, moderate rain) is a Costely reading, not a NASA recommendation. NASA does not endorse this site.

Wages in Europe

Rights holder: European Union, Eurostat · Structure of Earnings Survey, earn_ses_monthly — median and mean gross monthly earnings, all employees, industry, construction and services except public administration · reference year 2022 · accessed 14 August 2026 · ec.europa.eu/eurostat · reuse authorised with acknowledgement of the source, including for commercial purposes. Figures are reproduced as published; PPS values are Eurostat’s own adjustment for price differences between countries. Note: gross pay before tax and social contributions; the survey runs every four years, so 2022 is the latest wave. The European Commission does not endorse this site.

Pay by occupation group in Europe

Rights holder: European Union, Eurostat · Structure of earnings survey 2022 (earn_ses22_21), mean monthly earnings by occupation · mean gross monthly earnings in euro, enterprises with 10 employees or more, all ages, both sexes · retrieved 20 August 2026 via the Eurostat dissemination API · ec.europa.eu/eurostat · reuse authorised with acknowledgement of the source, including for commercial purposes. Earnings are reproduced as published; the difference column is a Costely calculation. Note: These are means, not medians, so large salaries pull them up; they are gross, before tax and social contributions. The survey runs every four years, so 2022 is the latest round. Occupations are the nine broad ISCO-08 groups — Europe publishes nothing finer, unlike the United States. Coverage is limited to EU, EFTA and candidate countries. These are means, while the median wage card on the same page comes from the same survey but is a different measure, so the two figures will not match. The European Commission does not endorse this site.

Food price levels in Europe

Rights holder: European Union, Eurostat · Purchasing power parities, price level indices by expenditure category (prc_ppp_ind) · EU27_2020 = 100, reference year 2024 · retrieved 20 August 2026 via the Eurostat dissemination API · ec.europa.eu/eurostat · reuse authorised with acknowledgement of the source, including for commercial purposes. Index values are reproduced as published; the difference column is a Costely calculation. Note: these are price levels, not prices — 100 is the EU average of the same year, so a value of 120 means dearer than the EU average by a fifth, and nothing about what a kilo costs. This measure is shown only when both countries of a pair are covered by Eurostat, which is the EU, EFTA and candidate countries; every other pair keeps the World Bank benchmark of 2021 on the World = 100 base, and the two must not be read against each other. A price level index says how a country compares with the EU average in the same year, not what anything costs. Values above 100 mean dearer than the EU average, below 100 cheaper. Coverage is limited to EU, EFTA and candidate countries, and this block is shown only when both countries are covered. The European Commission does not endorse this site.

Household energy prices in Europe

Rights holder: European Union, Eurostat · Energy prices for household consumers, bi-annual data (nrg_pc_204 electricity, nrg_pc_202 gas) · 2025-S2 · retrieved 20 August 2026 via the Eurostat dissemination API · ec.europa.eu/eurostat · reuse authorised with acknowledgement of the source, including for commercial purposes. Consumption bands: electricity band DC, 2 500-4 999 kWh a year; gas band D2, 20-199 GJ a year; both including all taxes and levies. Prices are in euro and reproduced as published; the difference column is a Costely calculation. Note: coverage is limited to EU, EFTA and candidate countries, because the reuse terms do not extend to data about other countries. Prices are per kilowatt-hour for a typical household band, including all taxes and levies, as published. Where a country has not reported the latest half-year, its most recent reported half-year is used and named in the row. Coverage is limited to EU, EFTA and candidate countries. The European Commission does not endorse this site.

Household spending per person

Rights holder: The World Bank · World Development Indicators, household final consumption expenditure per capita · spending per person converted to a month, in current US dollars · accessed not recorded — collected before the plugin stored provenance in the file · data.worldbank.org · licence: CC BY 4.0, reuse subject to the World Bank Dataset Terms of Use. Used only as the starting point of the cost planner; the split by category uses the International Comparison Program 2021 ratios listed above, and household size is scaled on the OECD-modified equivalence scale. Note: The monthly figure and the flag marking an estimated year are Costely calculations. The World Bank does not endorse this site.

Wages in the United States

Rights holder: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · Current Employment Statistics, national — average weekly earnings of all employees, total private, CES0500000011 · retrieved 14 August 2026 via the BLS Public Data API · bls.gov/ces · work of the U.S. Government, public domain — free to reuse, including commercially. The monthly figure is a Costely conversion from weekly earnings. Note: this is an average, while the European figures are medians, so the two are not measured the same way; averages sit above medians. BLS.gov cannot vouch for data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from BLS.gov. The BLS does not endorse this site.

Wages in Canada

Rights holder: Statistics Canada · Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours, table 14-10-0223-01, vector 79311153 — average weekly earnings including overtime, all employees, industrial aggregate excluding unclassified businesses, seasonally adjusted · May 2026 · accessed 14 August 2026 · www150.statcan.gc.ca · Statistics Canada Open Licence — reuse and redistribution permitted, including commercially, with acknowledgement of source. Reproduced and distributed on an “as is” basis with the permission of Statistics Canada. The published value is weekly; the monthly figure and the conversion to US dollars are Costely calculations. Note: this is a mean, unlike the Eurostat medians. Statistics Canada does not endorse this website.