2025 Remuneration Trends for Boards & Executives in C25 Companies

Deloitte has published its annual analysis of Board and Executive remuneration within Danish C25 companies for 2025. The report provides a guide to the 2025 levels of board and executive remuneration in Danish C25 companies. The analysis is based on information disclosed in remuneration reports relating to financial periods ending between June and December 2025.

In addition to revealing the medians on various remuneration components for CEOs, CFOs and Board members, the report also highlights the data which indicates a tempering of broad sentiment amongst the C25 companies to link executive remuneration to the demands of ESG. 

Finally, the insights also provide new guides to the 2025 levels of remuneration reporting transparency in 25 Danish C25 company remuneration reports and remuneration policies as well as a summary of emerging trends in remuneration policy changes in 2026.

Here are the Top 10 key messages:

1. Total actual CEO remuneration increased by 7.4% to DKK 24.6m in 2025, which is the combined result of 1) increases around the median total actuaL remuneration for six CEOs, but also 2) significant decreases in the upper quartile for four CEOs, and 3) significant decreases in the lower quartile for two CEOs.
   
2. Total actual CFO remuneration decreased by 2.1% to DKK 14.1m in 2025. The decrease was mainly driven by notably decreases in actual bonus for most CFOs, counter-balanced by increases in base salary and actual LTI remuneration for most CFOs.
   
3.  64% of the C25 companies disclosed having incorporated ESG metrics in the Executives’ annual bonus (2024: 71%) - a 7% decrease is noted. 
   
4. The percentage of 1.9% (2024:1.6%) which is the median actual climate bonus expensed of total remuneration to Executives still indicates that we are at the beginning of a long-term journey towards net-zero
   
5. Increased Board member base pay of 4.6% in 2025 to DKK 495k (median)
   
6. Increased Board Chair pay of 5.3% in 2025 to DKK 1,500k (median)
   
7. Expected increased Board member base pay in 2026 of 3.1% to DKK 502k (median)
   
8. Expected increased Board Chair pay in 2026 of 3.3% to DKK 1,530k (median)
9. We have also identified eight emerging trends in remuneration policy changes in 2026 from seven C25 companies (28%). They are:

a. Strengthening pay-for-performance linkage
b. Broadening long-term incentive instruments
c. Reflecting greater workload and governance expectations of Board     Committees
d. Maturing long-term alignment with shareholders with CEO     shareholding requirements
e. Formalization of indemnification protection for Boards and     Management
f. Executive base salary paid partly in shares
g. Integration of ESG metrics is becoming standard practice
h. Most companies made no material changes to their remuneration     policy

10. Finally, we have developed these four key findings and actions that companies can consider enhancing their transparency level in future remuneration reports:

a. Continued divergence in the market on disclosures of
    STI target levels
b. Hesitancy of companies to increase disclosures of LTI target levels
c. TSR is an emerging KPI in LTI programmes
d. Continued divergence in practice on how C25 companies disclose     and calculate ESG and climate-linked remuneration

Deloitte continues to advise clients on remuneration strategy, design, committee work, policy, implementation, communication, and reporting. For more insights and detailed analysis, feel free to explore the full report or contact our Board and Executive remuneration advisors.