Danish GDP Shock Has Economists Querying Government Numbers

The chances of Denmark’s economic forecasts being supported by reality grew more remote this week after second-quarter data showed a surprise contraction that suggests the projected recovery has been derailed.

Gross domestic product shrank 0.3 percent last quarter, when economists surveyed by Bloomberg had foreseen a 0.3 percent expansion, according to figures published by the statistics office today. For the government to meet its 2014 target, annualized GDP growth will need be more than 5 percent in the final two quarters of the year, said Jes Asmussen, chief economist in Copenhagen at Svenska Handelsbanken AB.