Pharmacy in Denmark

The healthcare system in Denmark provides quality, safe and affordable health care to its
population. Everyone has free access to health care and the right to free treatment at a hospital.
Community and hospital pharmacies are an integral part of the healthcare system. Pharmacists
work in various areas — community pharmacies, hospitals, general practice and home care.

You can study pharmacy at the University of Copenhagen and the University of Southern Denmark.
There are 4,500 pharmacists in Denmark, with more than half working in the life science industry.
Pharmacists are the second largest professional group in the industry. They work in research,
clinical testing, production, registration and pharmacovigilance.
Thus, they are an important part of a growing industry. Since 2008, the number of employees in
the industry has grown by 23%, to 51,072 people today, and pharmaceuticals now account for
19% of Danish exports of goods.

Hospital pharmacies are publicly owned. Pharmacists work with the production of
pharmaceuticals, logistics and optimisation of medicine therapy.

Community pharmacies are privately owned and must be owned by a pharmacist. A pharmacist
may own a maximum of eight pharmacies. There are 175 pharmacists who own one or more
pharmacies; in total, there are more than 500 pharmacies in Denmark.

There are almost 900 pharmacists employed at these pharmacies. In recent years, pharmacies
have taken on a larger role in the healthcare system, offering services such as the New Medicine
Service, the Compliance Service, and other counselling and vaccination services.

During the FIP world congress 2025 in Copenhagen, a dedicated session on “Pharmacy in
Denmark” will be organised to share more about pharmacists working in community pharmacies,
hospital pharmacies and the life science industry.