Municipalities collect record 1.4 billion kroner from parking
Monday 31st August 2026 on 06:45 in
Denmark
Danish municipalities collected almost 1.4 billion kroner in parking revenue in 2025, the highest figure ever recorded, DR reports. The total includes payments for parking, resident permits and parking fines, according to a review by motorists’ organisation FDM.
FDM director Stina Glavind said the repeated increases should prompt discussion about whether the costs imposed on motorists are reasonable.
The rise is mainly due to more municipal areas being converted to paid parking, combined with price increases in several places. Both decisions are made by local politicians, Glavind said.
She acknowledged that municipalities have the right to regulate traffic through paid parking and fines, but urged politicians to ensure that parking does not become a source of municipal revenue for its own sake.
“It becomes problematic if the increased parking revenue is not about regulating traffic, road use and mobility in cities,” Glavind said. She added that the money motorists pay should be used, among other things, to improve parking facilities.
Helsingør eases parking scheme
Helsingør municipality introduced paid parking in recent years. Its first and more restrictive scheme generated just over 7.5 million kroner in 2025, but has since been eased.
Drivers can now park for free for the first two hours in places including Helsingør city centre, after which they must pay.
Conservative mayor Benedikte Kjær said paid parking can be a useful and necessary tool for regulating traffic, but that municipalities must find the right balance.
“One must be very careful and humble when introducing paid parking. It must not be seen as a revenue tool for the municipal coffers, but rather as a way to regulate traffic and parking behaviour so there is still room for people who want to drive into the city to shop, for example,” Kjær said.
Kjær said she understood FDM’s concern about rising parking revenue, but noted that municipalities face a limit on how much they can earn from parking. Any amount above that limit is taken by the state, she said.