Municipalities issued a record number of parking fines in 2024

Never before have there been as many parking fines issued in Denmark as in 2024. Last year, the country’s municipalities handed out 627,825 parking fines – almost 60,000 more than the year before. This is shown in a new calculation from the motorists’ interest organization FDM.

The many fines contributed to the municipalities’ total gross revenue from parking reaching 1.2 billion Danish kroner, which is also a new record. Of the total amount, 900 million kroner comes from paid parking, while 317 million kroner comes from parking fines.

According to FDM, the increase does not necessarily reflect that motorists have become worse at following the rules, but rather that there is a lack of parking spaces. “More people are affected by the challenge of insufficient spaces, so some motorists in pressured situations choose to park illegally,” says consultant Dennis Lange from FDM.

Particularly Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, and Aarhus account for a large part of the revenue. In Copenhagen alone, six out of ten parking kroner were paid.

FDM also points out that revenue from paid parking should be regulated so that it is not used too much as a municipal income source. The organization suggests that more municipalities than the current two – Copenhagen and Frederiksberg – have their revenues offset in the state block grant.

Currently, 56 out of the country’s 98 municipalities have parking control, while 26 municipalities have introduced paid parking.