The Greenlandic Economy – Structure and Prospects

Greenland is a vast country with a small and geographically dispersed population. These conditioning factors pose a particular challenge for a natural resource-based economy. Greenland is thus in many respects unique and yet has to find a way to ensure a self-sustaining economy. This requires an economic development which addresses current economic and social problems, makes the economy independent of transfers from outside, and provides for a satisfactory increase in living standards. Essential for this is a transformation such that the economy does not only rely on renewable natural resources (fish) but also on non-renewable natural resources (minerals). As a background for discussing these issues, the paper first briefly lays out the historical development of Greenland. The overall structure of the Greenlandic economy is laid out, and the major challenges to achieve a self-sustaining economy are discussed.