Arctic island, 2.2 million km2, non-serious offers abstain. Greenland is not for sale, but that does not stop Donald Trump, soon to return to the post of President of the United States, from wanting to buy it. He has expressed his interest in Danish territory on numerous occasions in recent weeks, and wishes to integrate it into the territory of the United States.
But how much would such an operation cost? Territorial buyouts, relatively common during the era of colonial empires, gradually disappeared. The last US purchase of the sector dates back to 1917, when the country acquired the Virgin Islands. Coincidence, the former owner was again Denmark. The transaction cost around 25 million dollars at the time, or around 700 million euros today for around fifty islands totaling just 346 km2.
Between 10 and 1.100 billion dollars
The price of Greenland in 2025 would be very different. The economic firm Asterès attempted to explore the possible value of the territory in a note. But “even taking into account inflation and GDP, it is very hypothetical”, judges Sylvain Bersinger, chief economist of the firm. Several methods, varying the value from a single to a hundredfold, are presented in the study.
“One way to assess the value of an asset is to compare it to other transactions [comparables] carried out, details the firm. An estimate based on this method puts the value of Greenland at between $12.5 billion [si l’on compare à l’achat des Iles Vierges] and 77 billion dollars [si l’on compare à l’achat de l’Alaska en 1867]. » Adjusted for 2025, a previous offer from the Truman administration, made to Denmark in 1946, would bring the price of the territory to “only” $10 billion.
But the stakes can still rise. The areas of the Polar Circle, such as Greenland, are indeed coveted for their raw material resources, particularly minerals and hydrocarbons. “From what little we know, it is a subsoil rich in resources,” explains Sylvain Bersinger. According to an Alphaville study published in the Financial Timesthis estimation method would bring the value of Greenland to 1.1 trillion dollars.
A country is priceless
But Sylvain Bersinger insists, a lot of factors come into play, and assigning a sales value to a country is difficult. “You buy a territory with people on it, unlike other assets where we only ask the owner,” he explains. It is a legal and even ethical complexity. » Before recalling: “Donald Trump has not put forward a price, he himself probably does not have too many ideas. There are also geopolitical considerations that would influence the transaction. In the history of territorial exchanges, one country was often in a position of strength over the other. »
Notre dossier Donald Trump
Staying with the high estimate of $1.1 trillion, could the United States even afford Greenland? With a GDP of more than $29 trillion in 2024, this would be a feasible purchase with a little borrowing and a budget. But “Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders and any discussion about the future of the Greenlandic people must begin and end in Nuuk,” Mette Frederiksen, Danish Prime Minister, politely responded last week. Donald Trump may have to find another location for his next golf course.
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