Results for the year - Income taxes and deferred income taxes - Income Taxes Paid (Details) - DKK (kr) kr in Millions	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018
Analysis of income and expense [abstract]
Income taxes paid in Denmark for current year	kr 4,262	kr 7,774	kr 6,640
Income taxes paid outside Denmark for current year	4,508	2,258	2,376
Income taxes paid/repayments relating to prior years	1,336	904	598
Income taxes paid	kr 10,106	kr 10,936	kr 9,614

The cash flows from income taxes paid or refunded, classified as operating activities. [Refer: Income taxes paid (refund)]

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Name IAS
-Number 7
-IssueDate 2019-01-01
-Paragraph 35
-URI http://eifrs.ifrs.org/eifrs/xifrs-link?type=IAS&num=7&code=ifrs-tx-2019-en-r&anchor=para_35&doctype=Standard
-URIDate 2019-03-27

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/exampleRef
-Name IAS
-Number 7
-IssueDate 2019-01-01
-Paragraph 14
-Subparagraph f
-URI http://eifrs.ifrs.org/eifrs/xifrs-link?type=IAS&num=7&code=ifrs-tx-2019-en-r&anchor=para_14_f&doctype=Standard
-URIDate 2019-03-27

Name:	ifrs-full_IncomeTaxesPaidRefundClassifiedAsOperatingActivities
Namespace Prefix:	ifrs-full_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration