Denmark will end mink farming by August 2029 after its government abandoned plans to seek an exemption from an EU-wide ban on the practice. The current administration decided on Friday not to pursue the application, reversing the earlier approach.
The prohibition takes effect on 7 August next year and will be followed by a two-year transition period to wind down the industry.
Government cites animal welfare in policy shift
Nature Minister Christian Rabjerg Madsen said the government had chosen animal welfare. “A business should not continue just because it has existed for a long time,” he said, adding that it should also serve society, the economy and the animals.
The previous administration had sought an exemption after the EU listed the mammal as an invasive species in 2025, a move that bars people from keeping them. The coalition government, elected in June 2026, took a different course. Social Democrat MP Brigitte Vind called the decision “a good day for animal welfare.”
The Danish Mink Association, which represents breeders, has been approached for comment.
Industry decline and the pandemic cull
Denmark was once the world’s largest producer of mink fur, but output has fallen amid global bans on fur farming, a shrinking fur trade and an earlier outbreak of a Covid strain in its mink population. The country remains one of the few in Europe still producing mink fur, though it has slipped behind Poland and China in recent years.
The sector was hit hard during the coronavirus pandemic, when the government ordered a mass cull after a mutated Covid-19 strain was found in the animals. Approximately 15 million mink were killed. At the time, Denmark had large export markets in China and Hong Kong, and the government later admitted it had no legal basis for the culling.
Closure costs yet to be set
No costs have been determined for closing the seven remaining mink farms, which hold approximately 15,000 mink. An animal welfare spokesperson for one of the governing coalition parties previously estimated the figure at around 14 million Danish krone (£1.56m), according to local media, though the final amount could be higher.
Fur remains a contested subject in fashion. Publications and brands stopped using it several years ago, but it returned to the spotlight last year when celebrities and fashion figures wore vintage and so-called faux fur.
