London Has More People Than All of Denmark Combined

Walk through London on any given day and you're sharing space with nearly 10 million people. That's not just a big city—that's more people than the entire country of Denmark. Yes, you read that right: a single metropolitan area has a larger population than a whole Scandinavian nation.

As of 2025, Greater London is home to approximately 9.8 million people, making it Europe's third-most populous city. Denmark, meanwhile, has about 6 million residents spread across its entire territory of 16,639 square miles. London manages to pack 4 million more people into just 607 square miles.

The Numbers Behind the Comparison

To put this in perspective, London's population density is staggering. Greater London crams roughly 16,000 people per square mile, while Denmark averages just 360 people per square mile across the whole country. You could fit Denmark's entire population into London and still have room for nearly 4 million more.

This isn't just a recent phenomenon. London has been growing steadily, adding nearly 93,000 people in the last year alone—a 0.95% annual growth rate. Denmark grows too, but at a slower 0.39% annually. The gap keeps widening.

What Makes a City Outgrow a Country?

London's massive population comes down to centuries of being a global hub. It's been a center of trade, finance, culture, and immigration since Roman times. Economic opportunity draws people from across the UK and the world—about 13% of the entire UK population lives in London.

Denmark, despite being prosperous and highly developed, is spread out differently. Copenhagen, its capital and largest city, has only about 1.3 million people in its metro area. The rest of Denmark's population is distributed across smaller cities and rural areas.

Here's what makes the comparison even more striking:

• London alone accounts for 15.5% of England's entire population
• The broader London metropolitan area reaches 15 million people
• Denmark's largest city has roughly 1/8th the population of London
• London adds more people annually than some Danish cities' total populations

Two Different Approaches to Living

The London-Denmark comparison highlights how differently societies can organize themselves. London represents the ultimate urban concentration—opportunity, diversity, and infrastructure packed into a compact area. Denmark embodies a more distributed model, with quality of life spread across multiple cities and towns.

Neither approach is inherently better. Denmark consistently ranks among the world's happiest countries despite its smaller, spread-out population. London offers unmatched cultural diversity and economic dynamism despite the crowding. Both work—just very differently.

Next time you're squeezed onto a Tube train during rush hour, remember: you're experiencing population density that an entire Nordic country doesn't have to deal with. And if you're in Copenhagen enjoying a peaceful bike ride, you're living in a country where there's actually room to breathe.