Sweden – a highly developed economy and a high living standard

SWEDEN: If you want to be successful with your business in Scandinavia, you must be aware that Denmark, Sweden and Norway are three widely different countries. In a small series of articles we focus on the characteristics of the three countries. In this article we take a closer look at Sweden.

Denmark: A well-educated population
Norwegian business environment is focused on equality

High living standards

Sweden’s economy is highly developed and the country has a high standard of living.

Sweden has one of the highest life expectancies in the world and one of the lowest birth rates.

Economic resources

The major economic resources are from fisheries, wood, high-grade ore mining, hydroelectric power and with a strong tourism industry.

The important export goods are electrical and telecom equipment, machinery, oil, cars, paper, pharmaceuticals, food, textile, footwear, iron and steel.

Extensive social welfare system

Sweden has an extensive social welfare system providing for childcare and maternity and paternity leave, pensions and sick leave, etc. and there is a cap on health care costs for the citizens. All paid through one of the highest taxations in the world.

Highly educated

Swedish people are highly educated due to an exemplary public system and private businesses often offer systems that encourage and enable self-improvement and further education.

Sweden is a highly developed country and there is an ever increasing need for advanced knowledge and investing into research is seen as investing in the future of the country. Sweden is known for its strong base in R&D programmes and the private and public sectors often work together towards same and ambitious goals.

Workforce

Sweden has the greatest level of employee protection of all the Scandinavian countries.

The workforce mobility in Sweden is a bit constraint due to the vast size of the country.