Comparability

Comparability - geographical

As far as we know, similar register based statistics are not produced elsewhere that have as extensive coverage as the Danish ones – international comparisons may produce skewed results due to different methods of data collection and coverage. Use caution if doing international comparisons and take note of which component are covered by the statistics. I.E. note that accrued pension wealth is a large part of household net wealth in Denmark - many international reports exclude this and this may have significant impact on the results.

Comparability over time

Statistics on wealth and debt have been compiled since 2014. From 2020 onwards, the statistics include data on unlisted shares and public debt under enforcement (student grant debt under enforcement has been included in all years). As long as one chooses either the 2014 series or the 2020 series and remains within that series, comparability over time is good, subject to the following reservations: Coverage of unlisted shares has gradually improved since 2020, meaning that the increase over time is likely somewhat overstated in the period 2014–2020. Student grant debt under enforcement disappears from the 2014-series in 2020. There are data breaks in the market value of housing in the years 2023–2025. Delays related to the implementation of the new valuation system caused gradually increasing coverage problems in the years 2019–2022. These gaps were patched in 2023 and 2024 and contribute to artificially high increases in market values. In addition, the model that adjusts official valuations to market values appears to have somewhat underestimated price increases in areas with strong price growth and vice versa. The new valuation system has not yet been fully implemented, and further data breaks are expected in connection with the release of 2025 data. Once the new valuations are fully implemented, the possibility of revising historical data will be examined with the aim of limiting the impact of these data breaks.

In the income register, wealth data exists dating back to 1980. However, these data sets are incomplete, as they lack information on the value of cars, unlisted shares, and pension assets. Additionally, there was a significant data break in property valuations in 2014 when the methodology shifted from public assessments to market value calculations.

Coherence - cross domain

Data on wealth at the macro level is published in the national accounts. In 2014, a memo was made about the differences between the individual-based statistics and the national accounts. The National accounts include macro data on wealth components that are not available at the level of individuals I.E. non-traded stocks. This includes e.g. unlisted shares and cash. The statistics on personal assets and liabilities are a subset of these statistics. The financial wealth components that are also included in the income statistics are also very internally consistent. The few difference that occur are caused by the often changing points of time during the day that the tax authorities’ systems register their data.

Coherence - internal

Not relevant for these statistics.