Denmark is mostly described as a country to work in, but pensioners from other EU countries can settle there too, for family, for a partner or by choice. For them the practical questions differ from the working expat's: health cover, tax, and what the Danish system owes you.
This guide to retiring in Denmark follows the official pages of Lifeindenmark, Skattestyrelsen and Udbetaling Danmark, the public agency that pays pensions and benefits.
Can you start retiring in Denmark if you are an EU citizen?
Yes, and you do not need a work permit. As a person without a job, you apply for the EU residence document as a person with sufficient funds: SIRI asks for proof that you can support yourself for at least your first 12 months, and funds equal to the cash benefit rate (DKK 7,095 a month before tax in 2026 for a person without children) are always enough. Attestations of your pension amounts are the usual proof of income. The sequence is the standard one: residence document from SIRI, a permanent address, then CPR registration. See EU residence document in Denmark and CPR number in Denmark.
Before you go, ask your pension institution or health insurer for the S1 form, which gives you the right to care in your country of residence at the expense of your pension country. If you draw a pension from an EU, EEA or Swiss country, this is the key document.
How does the S1 work when retiring in Denmark?
Once you have a CPR number, you declare your health insurance country to Udbetaling Danmark, attaching the S1 (or the older E 121), and you receive the yellow health card, which shows your GP. The pension institution's statement of your amounts is also useful for SIRI and for the tax authority. The details, and what to do while you wait, are in healthcare in Denmark.
Unsure which documents your pension fund must send you, or how to word the request? Moovy can list the papers that SIRI, Udbetaling Danmark and the tax authority ask for and draft your request to your pension institution in your language, with a translation in Danish if needed. You check it and send it yourself.
Is your pension taxed in Denmark?
Once you live in Denmark you are fully liable to Danish tax on your worldwide income, so your foreign pension, accounts and property go in your preliminary assessment on TastSelv; see income tax in Denmark. The tax treaty between Denmark and your country can change who taxes what. As an example, a new France-Denmark treaty applies from 1 January 2024: private pensions are in principle taxable in the country of residence, but the paying country also keeps a right to tax, notably if the contributions were deductible there or if the pension comes from its social security, and public pensions remain taxed by the state that pays them. For other countries, find the treaty on skat.dk. Because pensions are a special case, get a professional to check yours.
Foreign pension plans: contributions to a foreign plan are in principle not deductible in Denmark, though for a plan in the EU or EEA you can ask Skattestyrelsen to approve it.
How does the Danish state pension (folkepension) work?
Even if you arrive as a pensioner, you may earn a share of the Danish state pension, but it is built from residence, not from contributions.
- Pension age: 67 for people born from 1 July 1955 to 31 December 1962; 68 for those born 1963 to 1966; 69 for 1967 to 1970; 70 for 1971 and later.
- 2026 amounts: a basic amount of DKK 7,544 a month before tax, not reduced by earnings, plus a pension supplement of up to DKK 8,729 a month for a single person or DKK 4,467 for someone in a couple, reduced by other income.
- Full pension: you must have lived in Denmark for at least nine tenths of the period between age 15 and your pension age, according to the Social Pensions Act. Less than that, and the pension is calculated pro rata.
- Minimum: at least three years of residence between age 15 and pension age; with under 12 months of residence you receive nothing.
- EU, EEA, Swiss and UK citizens: you can qualify with at least three years of insurance periods in these countries, including at least one year in Denmark. Each country pays its share, at its own pension age.
- Other nationalities: borger.dk asks, as a rule, for ten years of residence between age 15 and pension age, five of them just before the pension is granted.
The state pension is not automatic. You apply online with MitID to Udbetaling Danmark, up to six months before your pension age. Only residence between age 15 and your pension age counts, so a move after your pension age does not earn you a Danish state pension.
What is the ATP?
The ATP is the compulsory supplementary pension for employees. If you contributed, it is paid automatically at pension age into your NemKonto. In 2026 the maximum is DKK 25,800 a year for a full career from age 18, with the payment for life if the annual pension exceeds DKK 3,600, a single sum otherwise. Deferral is possible for up to ten years.
What should you do before leaving, step by step?
A pensioner's checklist is shorter than a worker's, but its order matters more, because several documents come from your home country and take weeks to arrive.
- Ask your pension institution for the S1 and for a statement of your yearly pension amounts. SIRI and the tax authority both need the amounts.
- Check your health insurance position with your home country, since the S1 decides which country pays your care.
- Prepare your SIRI application as a person with sufficient funds: proof of resources for at least your first 12 months, plus your passport or ID card.
- Find a home where you will actually live, and get the lease. The CPR registration depends on it (renting in Denmark).
- Register, declare your health insurance country, create MitID and set up your NemKonto, so that any Danish payment and the tax authority's refunds reach you.
- Declare your foreign pensions and assets in your first preliminary assessment, and ask a cross-border adviser to look at the tax treaty between Denmark and your country.
What if you have lived or worked in Denmark before?
If you worked in Denmark earlier, you may already have a Danish pension entitlement: ATP contributions, perhaps a workplace scheme, and residence periods that count toward the folkepension. Your earlier CPR number remains valid for life, so you do not request a new one. Collect your old payslips and any ATP statements before you apply. If you earned entitlements in several EU countries, a pension claim in Denmark can also trigger your claim to the other country's pension: if you receive or apply for a Danish pension, the application to Udbetaling Danmark also counts as an application for the foreign pension from another EU country, which has not yet been paid. Otherwise there is a form to send to Udbetaling Danmark's foreign pension section.
Does it make sense to retire in Denmark financially?
That depends on your pension, your housing and your tax. Two facts to keep in mind. Housing is the largest cost and a pensioner who owns a home pays the property value tax and the municipal land tax, with a reduction for retirees that falls as income rises. And a foreign pension is taxed by Denmark once you live there, unless a treaty gives the right to another state. See cost of living in Denmark for the big bills, and best places to live in Denmark to compare municipal tax rates.
What about retiring in Denmark from the UK?
British citizens are not covered by the EU residence route; they need a residence permit under Danish rules (moving to Denmark from the UK). For health, if you receive a UK state pension, you ask the NHS Overseas Healthcare Services for an S1 and register it in Denmark, which gives you the yellow card, according to GOV.UK.
What are the common mistakes?
- Assuming the folkepension adds automatically on top of your own. Late arrivals get a fraction.
- Forgetting to declare your foreign pensions. They belong in the preliminary assessment as soon as you are fully liable.
- Leaving Denmark afterwards without checking. In a country outside the EU, the EEA, Switzerland and the UK, the folkepension is limited to the basic amount, without supplement, according to borger.dk. ATP pensioners living abroad send a life certificate every year.
- Not applying for your pension. It must be requested.
- Ignoring housing taxes. Owners pay two annual taxes, with a reduction for pensioners; see buying property in Denmark.
Before you decide, check your own entitlements with Udbetaling Danmark and your pension fund, and ask a Danish tax adviser to confirm how your pension will be taxed.
The whole arrival sequence is in moving to Denmark. For Greenland and the Faroe Islands, which have their own pension systems, see Greenland and the Faroe Islands.