Denmark to ban mink farming in government U-turn
Once the world's largest producer of mink pelts, the nation's industry has declined in recent years.
**Denmark to ban mink farming in government U-turn**
Mink farming in Denmark will come to an end by August 2029 after the government abandoned plans to seek an exemption from an EU-wide ban on the practice.
Denmark was once the world’s biggest producer of mink fur, but the sector has shrunk because of worldwide bans on fur farming, a downturn in the fur trade and an earlier outbreak of a Covid strain among the country’s mink.
The ban is set to take effect on 7 August next year, followed by a two-year transition period to wind down the industry.
Danish Nature Minister Christian Rabjerg Madsen said the government had opted for animal welfare.
"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," he said.
The Danish government had originally sought an exemption for its mink industry when the EU added the mammal to its list of invasive species in 2025, banning people from keeping them.
But the current coalition government, elected in June 2026, reversed course and decided on Friday not to continue with the application.
Social Democrat MP Brigitte Vind said it was "a good day for animal welfare".
"It is absolutely the right decision not to apply for a special scheme for mink breeding in Denmark," she said.
Denmark is among the few European countries still producing mink fur, one of the more widely used pelts in fur clothing.
Even so, its output has fallen behind countries such as Poland and China in recent years.
The industry was hit hard during the coronavirus pandemic, when the government ordered a mass cull of mink after a mutated strain of Covid-19 was discovered in the animals. About 15 million were killed.
At the time, the country had major export markets in China and Hong Kong. The government later acknowledged it had no legal basis for the cull.
There are now about 15,000 mink left in Denmark.
No costs have yet been set for shutting down Denmark’s seven remaining mink farms, but an animal welfare spokesperson for one of the governing coalition parties previously put the figure at around 14m Danish krone (£1.56m), local media report, though the final total could be higher.
Fur remains a contentious issue in fashion, with publications and brands choosing several years ago not to use or promote it.
But it returned to the spotlight last year, with celebrities and fashionistas wearing both vintage and so-called faux fur.