Government decision

Denmark will not ask the European Union for a special exemption from the coming EU ban on mink farming, ending an industry that was once the largest of its kind in the world. Agriculture minister Christian Rabjerg Madsen announced the decision on Friday, 23 October 2026, in a statement from the ministry. The EU ban takes effect on 7 August 2027 and is followed by a two-year transition period, so remaining farms must close by 7 August 2029. The government said it had chosen animal welfare as its reason. Madsen framed the decision as a question of purpose rather than tradition.

“A business should not continue just because it has existed for a long time. It should also make sense for society, for the economy and for the animals.”

From world leader to seven farms

Before the Covid-19 pandemic Denmark had around 800 mink farms, according to Spiegel Online, and for a long time it was the world's largest producer of mink fur. In November 2020 the government ordered mink culled after a mutated strain of Covid-19 was found in the animals, a step the government later admitted it had no legal basis for. Estimates of the number killed differ: BBC reports approximately 15 million, while Spiegel Online puts it at up to 17 million. The breeding ban was lifted on 1 January 2023, but the sector never recovered, and by August 2026 only seven farms remained. BBC reports that roughly 15,000 mink are still in Denmark.

Political reaction and costs

The coalition government elected in June 2026 dropped an earlier plan to seek an exemption, a plan that had followed the EU's 2025 decision to add the mammal to its list of invasive species, BBC reports. Social Democrat MP Brigitte Vind welcomed the move as a good day for animal welfare.

“It is absolutely the right decision not to apply for a special scheme for mink breeding in Denmark.”

The Danish Mink Association, which represents breeders, was approached for comment, and no response is recorded in the articles. No closure costs have been officially set. An animal welfare spokesperson for one governing coalition party earlier estimated about 14 million Danish krone (£1.56 million) for closing the seven farms, according to local media, though the final sum could be higher.

Wider context

Denmark's decline reflects global bans on fur farming and a shrinking fur trade, and its production has slipped behind that of Poland and China in recent years, BBC reports. Other European countries have already moved against fur farming. Italy banned it in 2022, France in 2021 and the United Kingdom from 2003, while London and New York have also banned fur for several years. The EU mink ban is what forces the final closures in Denmark.