Challenges and perspectives

The turnover and the number of businesses in the design sector have quadrupled from 1995 to 2005. The approximately 4.500 Danish design companies have a total turnover of around 470 million euro.

Larger design companies are performing better than the smaller ones. Some design businesses experience a large growth, but only few experience a longer period of consistent high growth. More than 90 % of the design companies have very little activity or does not employ more than one person. Even among the design companies that have been in business for more than 10 years, only 2 % employ more than 5 people.

Challenges for the design sector
The most competitive design companies are larger companies that have more than 5 employees. The companies offer several different design services and incorporate analytical, technical and trading competencies in their work. They also cooperate intensely with their customers and suppliers.

However, only few design companies display these characteristics. Few businesses deliver services in the new disciplines, such as service design and user driven innovation. 24 % of the design businesses have cooperated with customers, 29 % with suppliers and 29 % with other design businesses. 45 % doesn’t have any cooperation with others when it comes to the development of new and existing products and services.

The employment of the Danish designers
There are more than 15.000 designers in the Danish workforce. The unemployment rate of newly graduated designers is twice as high as the unemployment rate for newly graduated in general. 47 % of the qualified designers with a vocational or a short- or medium-term higher education is employed in jobs with none or few design related tasks. The same is true for 25 % of the designers with a long-term higher education.

Danish design as an export industry
The Danish design companies have multiplied their exports by six from 1995 to 2005. They currently export for around 107 million euro. More Danish design companies are opening up branches abroad and sales to foreign customers has increased its share of total sales.

Denmark behind the leading countries

In international comparisons, Denmark is places immediately behind the leading group, made up by among other USA, Japan, Germany, UK and Holland. In terms of received international design prices from 2001 to 2005, Danmark ranks as no.8. In a survey among international design organisations, the reputation of Danish design is ranked5 in the world. The number of international businesses which place their design divisions inDenmark is modest compared to other countries.

A new policy on design –DesignDenmark
Good design make products and services attractive to customers and users alike. Design is therefore an integral part of the value creation in companies and public institutions. This is why the Danish Government wants to put Denmark back in the global design elite. To achieve this, Danish design must master and champion the newest tendencies in designs – because the field of design today stretches beyond the classical understanding of design.