Alcohol — Denmark

Denmark's drinking-age threshold is 6% ABV, not 16.5% - and the consolidated Act still prints the old number, so most sources are wrong. Two ages apply: nobody under 16 may be sold a drink of 1.2% ABV or more, and nobody under 18 may be sold a drink of MORE THAN 6% ABV (lov om forbud mod salg af tobak og alkohol til personer under 18 ar, § 2, stk. 1-2). The threshold dropped from 16.5% to over 6% on 1 April 2025, which puts ordinary strong beer, wine and anything stronger in the 18+ bracket while light beer stays 16+. Two further changes landed 1 January 2025: the words "from shops where retail sale takes place" were deleted, so the age limits are no longer confined to retail shops, and the ban now expressly covers proxy sales - buying for a minor is caught. In nightlife zones designated under the Police Act § 6 b, no drink of 1.2% ABV or more may be sold OR delivered to anyone under 18 between 22:00 and 08:00 (§ 2, stk. 3). Bringing alcohol in from another EU country follows the same two ages: 1.2-6% not by under-16s, over 6% not by under-18s (§ 3, stk. 2-3). The Act does not apply to the Faroe Islands or Greenland (§ 7).

The fine falls on the seller, not the buyer. § 5, stk. 1 punishes the shopkeeper, the restaurateur, the hotel keeper, the canteen owner and the distance seller with a bode - a fine - and states that a grave or repeated breach is a specially aggravating circumstance in setting it. No kroner figure is prescribed in the Act. Critically, the same provision says "Bestemmelsen i straffelovens § 23 finder ikke anvendelse" - the Criminal Code's accomplice rule does NOT apply - so the under-age buyer is not punished as an accessory to the sale. Companies can be held criminally liable (§ 5, stk. 3). Compliance with §§ 1-2 is policed by Erhvervsstyrelsen, which replaced Sikkerhedsstyrelsen in § 2 b on 3 September 2026; the consolidated text still names Sikkerhedsstyrelsen.

Verified Oct 10, 2026