Denmark may have just half of Georgia’s population, but trade and investment with the European Union nation of 5 million is leading to substantive employment in the state.
According to new calculations from the Embassy of Denmark in Washington and the Confederation of Danish Industry, or Dansk Industri, locals in Georgia have Denmark to thank for more than 4,259 jobs.
More than half of those, some 2,015, come from Danish-affiliated companies like rugged vehicle maker Hydrema, aerospace firm Terma, logistics giant DSV, muffler manufacturer Dinex, water meter producer Kamstrup, and more than 60 others that have invested here and hired local staff.
The remaining jobs come from export of Georgia goods to Denmark (573) or export of Georgia-based services to the country (1,671).
The top-line figure in 2022 represents significant growth over the last time the data was compiled three years ago, when the total stood at 3,332.
Christopher Smith, the Macon-based honorary consul of Denmark for Georgia, shared the new figures, which are likely based on 2019 data, with Global Atlanta after a recent visit to the embassy, where he joined other members of the Danish consular network for a visit with the newly arrived ambassador to the United States, Christina Markus Lassen.
Georgia’s exports to Denmark totaled $72 million in 2021, flat from the prior year and down from the 2019 total of $110 million, according to the U.S. Commerce Department.
Across the United States, some 912 Danish companies employ 78,600 people. The figures do not include the number of jobs indirectly supported by the investment activities of Danish companies, which would boost that portion’s total by a multiple of 1.6.
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