Prices, wages and shopping opportunities
Currency
Even if Denmark is a member of the European Union (EU) the currency used is still the Danish Krone, not the Euro.
Its pure symbolic. In reality the Danish Krone is bound very tight to the european currency and has always a value of between 7.43 and 7.45 dkr to 1 euro.
But it means that you have to get your hands on the national danish currency to make things easier for you, even if at some places the euro will be accepted for payments.
There are a lot of currency converters on the Net if you kneed to know the actual rates of exchange between your own currency and the european / danish.
Wages
Normally the working condition and the wages in Denmark are regulated through agreements between the unions and employers.
Therefore if you want to know what level of wages you can expect from a giving job you should contact the union that organize the workers in your area.
As an example look at the information from the Jobpatrol.
Notice that the danish labour market generally is thoroughly organized.
The agreements between unions and employers regulates among other things the minimum wage you can expect for a given job.
Its not looked upon with friendly eyes if you are trying to sell your workpower for a cheaper prize.
Also its common to be an organized member of the union. Most unions are present on the Internet.
Be aware of and escape the few "yellow" unions that are operating on the Danish labourmarket
On a per hour basis wages can be anything from about 90dkr upwards (or lesser if you are not working legally). Notice that the wages also depends on your age.
"Skattefar" - the taxdaddy - takes his part of the legally earned money. It is generally accepted - the Danes know that the taxes to a great part are financing common goods: hospitals, education, the social security system etc. They do not end in the pocket of some corrupt politician.
In the year 2000 the average danish family (who do not exist) earned about 417.000 dkr and was left with 288.000 dkr after the taxes were paid.
But of course some have a much smaller income. Just to give an example: the basic retirement pension for singles (its starting form the 67th year of age) is about 9300 dkr. before taxes, per month.
Prices
All prices in Denmark are added a 25% tax (included in the prices given!) so expect the level of prices to be rather high, also compared with many other european countries.
Examples:
A Big Mac: 27.75 dkr. (april 2003).
One liter of fuel super : about 9.50 (july 2005).
One hour ticket with the Bus / Metro in the central Copenhagen: 17 dkr. (july 2005)
Dining in a restaurant: cheap: 50 - 150 dkr., middle: 150 - 300dkr., expensive: 300 - ? dkr.
One Ticket for the Cinema: 50 - 70 dkr.(july 2005)
A beer in a Cafe or bar: 15 - 70 dkr (july 2005)
On the website workindenmark (published by an governement institution) the following data are published:
| A typical Danish family’s expenses are proportioned as follows: | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Accommodation and maintenance | 22% |
| 2 | Food, drink and tobacco | 17% |
| 3 | Transport and communication | 17% |
| 4 | Other goods and services, such as childcare | 13% |
| 5 | Equipment for leisure activities, entertainment | 11% |
| 6 | Heating and electricity | 7% |
| 7 | Furniture | 6% |
| 8 | Clothes and shoes | 5% |
| 9 | Medicine and medical expenses | 2% |
Where to shop
There are plenty of shopping opportunitinies and its possible to buy almost everything you could ever think of. You just need the money - or a creditcard ;-)
You will be able to find a lot of shopping centers in all danish towns except for the tiniest. Also most Danish towns have some kind of shopping street in the center of the city usually a pedestrian street.
The daily supplies: Supermarkets
There are several competiting supermarket chains in Denmark.
The two dominating Chains are the Danish Supermarket (a branch of the dominating A.P.Moeller koncern) and the Coop chain.
The last one has its origin in the 19th. century Cooperative movement and was inspired by the Manchester Rochdale Cooperative who started a user owned shop in 1844. It all means that the Coop chain is owned by its own costumers.
Coop stays behind supermarkets like Kvickly, Superbrugsen and Fakta. In the area around the capital you can also find the Irma supermarkets. They are more expensive than the former mentioned.
The other chain mentioned - The Danish Supermarket - stands behind supermarkets like Bilka, Foetex and Netto. Especially the last one is a terrible experience seen form the costumers point of view, but very popular.
The cheapest supermarkets are driven by a German chain: Aldi. They can be difficult to find because a part of the concept is to place the supermarkets at places where the rent is small. If you are on a budget its the supermarket to go for.
Another German chain - Lidl - is establishing itself in Denmark, - perhaps the competicion will grow.
Most of the above mentioned chains are publishing their prices on their homepages so thats the place to look if you a want a general impression about the level of prices.
Also notice I have no connections of any kind with the companies and services mentioned above.