OECD’s assessment of the top 10%’s share of wealth – Denmark is not at the top of the list, but in the middle when occupational pension schemes are included.

• The richest 10% of Danes own 48% of the total wealth in Denmark. That puts Denmark in the middle as no. 13 out of 23 OECD countries.
• When the debate – as an argument for higher taxes on capital – makes reference to Denmark being among the countries with the greatest wealth inequality in the OECD, it is thus misleading.
• This misunderstanding arises because the debate reference is to an OECD study, which seems to show that the richest 10% in Denmark has 64% of the total wealth, which would be the third highest in the OECD.
• But the OECD’s “main statement” does not include the wealth from occupational pension schemes. Denmark is among the countries with the largest level of such pension assets. These assets are worth 4,400 billion DKK or 200 % of GDP.
• The OECD has made a separate assessment in which they include occupational pensions for the countries for which it is possible. This shows that, for the top 10 %, the share of wealth falls from 64% to 48% in Denmark. This corresponds to the ranking specified above as no. 13 out of the 23 countries with available data for occupational pensions.