The socio-economic significance of North Denmark's commercial ports

Authors: Nino Javakhishvili-Larsen and Tobias Frøslev Rasmusson.This report provides an analysis of the socio-economic impacts of the commercial ports in the North Denmark Region. Calculations have been made for each individual port: Port of Frederikshavn, Port of Skagen, Port of Hanstholm, Port of Aalborg A/S, and Port of Hirtshals. Furthermore, additional impact assessments for the combined effects of all five ports have been conducted to provide an overview of their regional significance. The five ports are geographically located across four municipalities in North Denmark: Frederikshavn, Aalborg, Thisted, and Hjørring. These analyses are based on direct and indirect effects. Direct effects stem immediately from the ports' activities on businesses and jobs. In addition, there are indirect effects, which arise from the direct effects through derived production, income, and employment. Based on this, the methods are divided into direct and indirect effects. Overall, the report shows that port activities are significantly important for each individual municipality and for the North Denmark Region as a whole. This is due to an employment impact of 9.48-18.61% in the individual municipalities and an employment rate of 10.53% in the North Denmark Region. This employment creates value added, which is generally higher per job than the average workplace in the North Denmark Region. When jobs are created and value is increased, it also generates higher tax revenue at the municipal, regional, and national levels. Furthermore, it can be concluded that regardless of the size of the port and which sectors create the jobs and value added, the commercial ports contribute positively to the economy of the local and national community through socio-economic effects.