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Statistics on income and living conditions (SILC)

How large a share of the population is economically vulnerable? How many struggle to make ends meet? The Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) is a questionnaire-based survey conducted annually in all EU countries, including Denmark. As such, it reflects the respondents' own perception at the time of the interview. It is well-suited for cross-country comparisons.

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Indicator based on individuals' subjective perceptions of the economic situation of their household as reported in a survey. Individuals living in households where at least three of the following five types of economic deprivation exists are considered economically vulnerable: 1) Difficult/very difficult making ends meet 2) Arrears the past year 3) Unable to pay an unexpected expense of 10,000 DKK 4) Cannot afford to have a car 5) Cannot afford one week annual holiday away from home.

Selected statistics on Statistics on income and living conditions (SILC)

This page shows selected popular statistics on the subject of Statistics on income and living conditions (SILC). In Statbank Denmark, you can find more data and compile your own statistics.

The economically vulnerable

The figure shows the share of economically vulnerable citizens (see definition above) within each household type.
More about the figure
Last update
24.1.2025
Next update
16.12.2025
Source data

The EU-SILC is a survey which combines interviews with administrative data from the registers at Statistics Denmark.

The primary source for SILC data is interviews with 6,010 households from a sample of 12.428 households. This sample is a combination of persons who participated the previous years and 7.365 added households. The interview data are combined with administrative registers to form the EU-SILC datasets. Denmark uses a selected respondent model and only interview one person per household. The selected respondent is asked personal questions, question related to the household and labor market status for all household members.

From 2016 the sample is stratified on Regions. From 2020 the sample is stratified on both Regions and the income intervals 0-60 per cent of the median, 60-100 per cent of the median and above 100 per cent of the median.

The target population is "persons living in Denmark", while the survey population is "persons living in private households in Denmark". Thus, persons living in institutions, prisons and the homeless are not included in the survey.

Five types of economic deprivation

The SILC indicator for economic vulnerability is based on five types of economic deprivation. Here you can see the share of the population that has experienced each type of deprivation over the past four years.
More about the figure
Last update
24.1.2025
Next update
16.12.2025
Source data

The EU-SILC is a survey which combines interviews with administrative data from the registers at Statistics Denmark.

The primary source for SILC data is interviews with 6,010 households from a sample of 12.428 households. This sample is a combination of persons who participated the previous years and 7.365 added households. The interview data are combined with administrative registers to form the EU-SILC datasets. Denmark uses a selected respondent model and only interview one person per household. The selected respondent is asked personal questions, question related to the household and labor market status for all household members.

From 2016 the sample is stratified on Regions. From 2020 the sample is stratified on both Regions and the income intervals 0-60 per cent of the median, 60-100 per cent of the median and above 100 per cent of the median.

The target population is "persons living in Denmark", while the survey population is "persons living in private households in Denmark". Thus, persons living in institutions, prisons and the homeless are not included in the survey.

General life satisfaction by income

The figure shows the population's self-perceived life satisfaction by income. Income is one of several background variables through which life satisfaction can be viewed. The life satisfaction scale goes from 0–10, and for each income quintile you see an average. The first quintile represents the fifth of the population with the lowest income, and the fifth quintile the fifth of the population with the highest income.
More about the figure
Last update
18.12.2024
Next update
16.12.2025
Source data

The EU-SILC is a survey which combines interviews with administrative data from the registers at Statistics Denmark.

The primary source for SILC data is interviews with 6,010 households from a sample of 12.428 households. This sample is a combination of persons who participated the previous years and 7.365 added households. The interview data are combined with administrative registers to form the EU-SILC datasets. Denmark uses a selected respondent model and only interview one person per household. The selected respondent is asked personal questions, question related to the household and labor market status for all household members.

From 2016 the sample is stratified on Regions. From 2020 the sample is stratified on both Regions and the income intervals 0-60 per cent of the median, 60-100 per cent of the median and above 100 per cent of the median.

The target population is "persons living in Denmark", while the survey population is "persons living in private households in Denmark". Thus, persons living in institutions, prisons and the homeless are not included in the survey.

General life satisfaction by household type

The figure shows the population's self-perceived life satisfaction by household type. Household type is one of several background variables through which life satisfaction can be viewed. The life satisfaction scale goes from 0–10.
More about the figure
Last update
18.12.2024
Next update
16.12.2025
Source data

The EU-SILC is a survey which combines interviews with administrative data from the registers at Statistics Denmark.

The primary source for SILC data is interviews with 6,010 households from a sample of 12.428 households. This sample is a combination of persons who participated the previous years and 7.365 added households. The interview data are combined with administrative registers to form the EU-SILC datasets. Denmark uses a selected respondent model and only interview one person per household. The selected respondent is asked personal questions, question related to the household and labor market status for all household members.

From 2016 the sample is stratified on Regions. From 2020 the sample is stratified on both Regions and the income intervals 0-60 per cent of the median, 60-100 per cent of the median and above 100 per cent of the median.

The target population is "persons living in Denmark", while the survey population is "persons living in private households in Denmark". Thus, persons living in institutions, prisons and the homeless are not included in the survey.

Housing costs as a heavy financial burden

The figure shows the share of various age groups who experience housing costs as a heavy financial burden.
More about the figure
Last update
18.12.2024
Next update
16.12.2025
Source data

The EU-SILC is a survey which combines interviews with administrative data from the registers at Statistics Denmark.

The primary source for SILC data is interviews with 6,010 households from a sample of 12.428 households. This sample is a combination of persons who participated the previous years and 7.365 added households. The interview data are combined with administrative registers to form the EU-SILC datasets. Denmark uses a selected respondent model and only interview one person per household. The selected respondent is asked personal questions, question related to the household and labor market status for all household members.

From 2016 the sample is stratified on Regions. From 2020 the sample is stratified on both Regions and the income intervals 0-60 per cent of the median, 60-100 per cent of the median and above 100 per cent of the median.

The target population is "persons living in Denmark", while the survey population is "persons living in private households in Denmark". Thus, persons living in institutions, prisons and the homeless are not included in the survey.

Expected decline in income

The figure shows the share of households in various regions that expect their total household income to decrease in the coming year.
More about the figure
Last update
18.12.2024
Next update
16.12.2025
Source data

The EU-SILC is a survey which combines interviews with administrative data from the registers at Statistics Denmark.

The primary source for SILC data is interviews with 6,010 households from a sample of 12.428 households. This sample is a combination of persons who participated the previous years and 7.365 added households. The interview data are combined with administrative registers to form the EU-SILC datasets. Denmark uses a selected respondent model and only interview one person per household. The selected respondent is asked personal questions, question related to the household and labor market status for all household members.

From 2016 the sample is stratified on Regions. From 2020 the sample is stratified on both Regions and the income intervals 0-60 per cent of the median, 60-100 per cent of the median and above 100 per cent of the median.

The target population is "persons living in Denmark", while the survey population is "persons living in private households in Denmark". Thus, persons living in institutions, prisons and the homeless are not included in the survey.

On the statistics – documentation, sources and method

Gain an overview of the purpose, contents and quality of the statistics. Learn about the data sources of the statistics, the contents of the statistics and how often they are published.

See the documentation of statistics to learn more:

Survey on Living Conditions (SILC)

In Denmark EU-SILC (Statistics on income and living conditions) is a combination of survey and register data. The purpose of EU-SILC is to provide a statistics on income, living conditions and risk of social exclusion. Statistics Denmark only disseminate a small part of EU-SILC. Dissemination is by Eurostat primarily.

The survey is conducted in all EU member states once a year following the same guidelines. In Denmark the survey has been conducted since 2004.

Need more data on Statistics on income and living conditions (SILC)?

You can go on searching on your own in Statbank Denmark. Find more detailed figures e.g., on economically vulnerable individuals broken down by gender, age, income, housing type, and much more.

Contact

Martin Faris Sawaed Nielsen
Phone: +45 23 69 90 67