It takes one company to save a town and a country
17 May 2024
Life in Kalundborg, a small Danish town with fewer than 17,000 people, is changing for one simple reason: Located here are major production facilities of Novo Nordisk, the Danish pharmaceutical giant and Europe’s most valuable company, and they have big plans.
While the company has been a city staple for over half a century, it was not until the introduction of the weight-loss drug Wegovy two years ago that Novo announced its ambition to invest 60 billion Danish kroner (just over €8 billion) into expanding their facilities. According to a Danish industry organisation, this is the largest manufacturing investment ever made in Denmark by a single company. With such an economic injection comes new jobs, citizens, and businesses. In 2022, Kalundborg’s GDP grew by a staggering 26.8% compared to the rest of the country’s 2.7%.
But Novo Nordisk is not only transforming Kalundborg. It's changing the whole country's economy. Last year, the country’s GDP grew 1.9%. Experts attribute this growth singlehandedly to the drug maker, without whom, the economy would have stagnated. In addition to that, Novo stands for about 15% of the country’s entire corporate tax intake. Economists have even coined the term "Novonomics" to describe this impact.
 | Erica Bernsten Strange However, experts fear that the Danish economy might suffer a similar fate to the Finnish economy following the demise of Nokia. By 2000, Nokia was the world’s most dominant mobile phone company, accounting for 4% of the Finnish GDP. But with the arrival of the iPhone and Android smartphones, Nokia could no longer keep up. Its percentage of Finland’s GDP has fallen from 4% to 0.4%, while thousands of jobs were cut. Similarly, if Novo Nordisk’s production and sales rates were to decline, it would negatively impact the country’s GDP and employment rate. Meanwhile, Kalundborg's mayor and the Danish economy minister are positive that the Finnish cautionary tale will not repeat itself. |
〉https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/penge/novo-nordisk-er-livsnerven-i-kalundborg-uden-dem-falmede-byen">Reportage about Novo's impact on Kalundborg
〉https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/20/business/ozempic-denmark-novo-nordisk.html?searchResultPosition=10">Is Novo Nordisk the new Nokia?
〉https://finans.dk/erhverv/ECE16423381/novo-er-ikke-nokia-minister-klar-til-at-beskytte-vaekstlokomotiv/">Ministry ready to save Novo Nordisk
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