It has an immense sector of state-owned companies, and it seems to work pretty well.
by Ryan CooperJune 12, 2026 (Prospect.org)
The government of Greenland sure has a big portfolio of state-owned companies. It owns the fishing company Royal Greenland, which is also the country’s largest single employer; the shipping company Royal Arctic Line; the housing company INI; the ferry company Arctic Umiaq Line; the logistics and retail company KNI; the national airline Air Greenland; the telecom company Tusass; the clothing company Great Greenland; the construction and renewable-energy company NunaGreen; the investment company Nalik Ventures; the real estate company Illuut; the utility company Nukissiorfiit; and the tourism company Visit Greenland.
Read more: This Greenland Is Red
It is hard to get precise statistics on these companies, as the government counts them as part of the relevant industrial sectors rather than the government itself. But according to a recent report, in 2023 they collectively employed 5,117 people, close to 10 percent of the total population. That year, they were responsible for 2.6 billion kroner in wages and profits (or about $410 million), which gives a rough sense of their contribution to GDP—11 percent in 2023. In 2022, that figure was 13 percent; the decline is thanks to post-pandemic inflation and some big investment spending turning their combined net profits negative. Add the 11,633 Greenland residents who worked for the government directly in 2023, and the 9.6 billion kroner directly spent by the government, and about 66 percent of employed Greenlanders work for the state or its companies, and the public sector writ large is responsible for something like 57 percent of GDP (or 59 percent in 2022).
Why would the government be so heavily involved in industry and commerce? Isn’t that the dread socialism? I traveled to Greenland to answer this question. Watch the video below to find out!
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Ryan Cooper
Ryan Cooper is a senior editor at The American Prospect, and author of How Are You Going to Pay for That?: Smart Answers to the Dumbest Question in Politics. He was previously a national correspondent for The Week. His work has also appeared in The Nation, The New Republic, and Current Affairs. More by Ryan Cooper
