Nationally, municipalities earned just under one billion kroner from the three types of parking fees, according to a review of municipal parking revenues in 2021 conducted by motorists’ interest organisation FDM.

The exact gross figure earned from parking fees and payments was 994,788,475 kroner, the organisation found.

The total is around 100 million kroner higher than it was in 2020 and 26 percent higher than it was in 2014, FDM said in a press statement.

“This is a drastic amount of money paid by motorists to municipalities for parking,” FDM senior consultant Dennis Lange said in the statement.

“We recognise that some municipalities need to regulate traffic with paid parking. But with a parking revenue that has only increased over the years, there’s reason to critically assess municipal parking arrangements, which can resemble a calculated revenue stream in breach of the law,” he said.

Revenues from paid parking in municipalities have particularly increased, with these now comprising almost three-quarters of total parking earnings, up from two-thirds previously.

Municipal paid parking – distinct from charges made by private car parks – exists in 26 of Denmark’s 98 municipalities. Parking permits required by local residents are included in this category.

The number of municipalities with paid parking has also increased, partly accounting for the overall higher total revenue according to FDM.

Paid parking zones have also been extended in some locations.

Copenhagen Municipality is the largest contributor to the national total by some distance.

In 2021, motorists in Copenhagen spent a total of 629 million kroner on parking. The second-highest total, in Aarhus, amounts to just under 100 million kroner.

Other densely-populated municipalities, including Frederiksberg, Odense and Aalborg, also figure near the top of the list.

But parking revenues have increase in all municipalities, FDM said.

“It’s odd to have large revenues from motorists while also wanting to make it difficult for them to use cities,” Lange said.

Money raised by local authorities from parking should be spent on large car parks outside of urban centres and close to public transport links, he argued.