The Danish economy grew 1.9 percent last year but would have flatlined without its pharmaceutical industry and the huge success of weight-loss drug maker Novo Nordisk, official data showed Wednesday.

National data agency Statistics Denmark said the sector's contribution to growth amounted to 1.9 percent.

"If it is deducted from GDP growth, you get a big zero," the agency's chief accounting consultant, Jonas Dan Petersen, said on X (formerly Twitter).

Novo Nordisk's net profit soared by 51 percent in 2023 to 83.7 billion kroner ($12.1 billion) as sales of diabetes medication Ozempic and obesity drug Wegovy have boomed.

The drug maker's shares also surged last year, turning Novo Nordisk into Europe's largest company by market capitalisation.