Greenland economy facing ‘major challenges’ amid Trump takeover push
A view of houses in the old town of Nuuk, Greenland, March 27, 2025.
Leonhard Foeger | Reuters
Donald Trump is interested in annexing Greenland, an Arctic island with undiscovered mineral resources.
But as the US president stepped up talk of America annexing self-governing Danish territory, sparking a backlash from international leaders, a report detailed the challenges facing its economy.
A report published on Tuesday by Søren Bjerregaard, head of securities and balance of payments at the National Bank of Denmark, warned Greenland’s economy that there were “major challenges ahead”.
The Arctic island’s economy, driven largely by the fishing industry, grew 0.8% in 2025 and is expected to grow another 0.8% this year, up from 2% in 2022. According to the Danish central bank, the slowdown is likely to continue.
“Greenland’s economy is slowing down, with modest growth and serious challenges to public finances,” Bjerregaard wrote.
“One reason for this is that the expansion of infrastructure in the form of airports is nearing completion, and planned major projects in energy supply and other areas have not yet started.”
At the same time, vital shrimp stocks are dwindling and public finances are “deteriorating surprisingly sharply in 2025,” he added. Part of the pressure on public finances was due to the decline in dividends of state-owned firms.
“Liquidity in the Greenland Treasury fell to a critically low level in the second half of the year,” Bjerregaard said, noting that the law to be enacted this year includes urgent fiscal tightening measures.
“More fiscal challenges lie ahead as a shrinking and aging population puts further pressure on the economy,” he added.
Greenland’s population, which stood at 56,699 in the last quarter of 2025, is expected to decline by 20% by 2050 as the region tries to attract replacement immigrants. migrating residents.
Trump ‘very serious’ about buying Greenland
In an interview with NBC News on Monday, Trump said he was “very serious” about buying the Arctic island. The day before, he had told reporters that the United States needed Greenland to strengthen its national security.
He was speaking after Washington launched a military operation in Venezuela that led to the capture of the country’s president, Nicolas Maduro.
Trump later told The Atlantic: America “definitely” needs Greenland; The president told the magazine that countries other than Venezuela could be subject to US intervention.
Trump has been floating the idea of taking Greenland for a long time. He said the United States would take control “one way or another” by early 2025.
Officials in Greenland, Denmark, and continental Europe have rejected the idea that the United States could lay any claim to Greenland.
On Monday, Greenland’s prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen, rebuked the parallels between the region and Venezuela.
“The situation is not one in which the United States can easily conquer Greenland,” Nielsen said at a press conference. “Our country is not a country that can be compared to Venezuela. We are a democratic country and have been democratic for many years.”
