GDPR decreased in all counties except one

All counties except Stockholm showed decreasing volumes of Regional Gross Domestic Product (GDPR) in 2009. Stockholm County remained clearly on top in terms of GDPR per inhabitant, GDPR per employed person and households’ disposable income per inhabitant. Gross fixed capital formation decreased in all regions.

Decreasing volumes of GDPR in 2009 were seen in all counties except one. Stockholm (+0.5 percent) was the only county with an increasing volume of GDPR. At the other end of the scale Norrbotten (-14.3 percent), Södermanland (-14.2 percent) and Kronoberg (-13.4 percent) suffered large volume reductions. The change in volume for the whole nation was
-5.0 percent.

The whole paragraph above has been corrected 2012-05-10.

GDPR per inhabitant: Stockholm the only county above the national average

Stockholm County (SEK 481 000 in current prices) had the highest GDPR per inhabitant, and was the only county with higher GDPR per inhabitant than the national average (SEK 334 000). Västra Götaland (SEK 321 000) was in second place. The lowest GDPR per inhabitant was seen in Södermanland (SEK 250 000).

The whole paragraph above has been corrected 2012-05-10.

The high level of GDPR per inhabitant in Stockholm County, as well as the low level in Södermanland County, is partly explained by commuting. For a short discussion on the impact of commuting on GDPR per inhabitant, see ‘Definitions and explanations’ below.

GDPR per employed person: Stockholm and three northern counties on top

Stockholm County (SEK 855 000 in current prices) also had the highest GDPR per employed person, followed by Västernorrland (SEK 686 000), Norrbotten (SEK 683 000) and Jämtland (SEK 678 000). Stockholm was the only county above the national average (SEK 697 000). Gotland County ended up at the bottom of the list, at SEK 517 000.

The whole paragraph above has been corrected 2012-05-10.

Households in Stockholm still had the highest disposable income per inhabitant

The national average in 2009 of households’ disposable income per inhabitant was SEK 175 000 in current prices. As in previous years, Stockholm County had the highest disposable income per inhabitant, at SEK 203 000. Halland County, SEK 181 000, and Uppsala County, SEK 174 000, followed in second and third place. Stockholm and Halland were the only two counties above the national average. The lowest disposable incomes per inhabitant were seen in Värmland (SEK 157 000) and Jämtland (SEK 159 000).

The counties of Stockholm, Skåne, Halland, Uppsala and Östergötland showed the largest increases in disposable income, between +4.8 percent and +6.4 percent. The national average was +4.3 percent. The lowest increase was seen in Jönköping County, +0.8 percent.

Gross fixed capital formation decreased in all regions

At the national level gross fixed capital formation decreased by 13 percent in current prices in 2009. All regions showed decreases, from a modest -1 percent in Stockholm to -32 percent in Övre Norrland.

Different measures by county of GDPR and disposable income 2009, current prices

The whole table has been corrected 2012-05-10.

	GDPR change in volume		GDPR per capita		GDPR per employed		Disposable income per capita
County	percent	order of rank	SEK thousands	order of rank	SEK thousands	order of rank	SEK thousands	order of rank
Stockholms län	0.5	1	481	1	855	1	203	1
Gotlands län	‑1.7	2	261	19	517	21	160	18
Östergötlands län	‑3.1	3	286	12	629	14	167	8
Västernorrlands län	‑4.3	4	316	3	686	2	167	8
Skåne län	‑4.5	5	292	7	647	9	168	7
Västerbottens län	‑4.7	6	292	7	648	8	160	18
Gävleborgs län	‑5.0	7	281	16	638	12	162	15
Jämtlands län	‑5.0	7	299	5	678	4	159	20
Uppsala län	‑5.4	9	290	9	653	7	174	3
Västra Götalands län	‑6.4	10	321	2	662	6	172	4
Örebro län	‑7.0	11	286	12	625	16	162	15
Blekinge län	‑8.1	12	271	18	608	18	163	14
Hallands län	‑8.8	13	283	15	639	11	181	2
Västmanlands län	‑8.8	13	284	14	647	9	169	5
Dalarnas län	‑10.5	15	288	11	663	5	164	13
Kalmar län	‑10.6	16	275	17	617	17	162	15
Värmlands län	‑10.7	17	260	20	638	12	157	21
Jönköpings län	‑11.7	18	289	10	588	20	165	12
Kronobergs län	‑13.4	19	295	6	604	19	169	5
Södermanlands län	‑14.2	20	250	21	626	15	167	8
Norrbottens län	‑14.3	21	306	4	683	3	167	8
Sweden	‑5.0		334		697		175

Definitions and explanations

This publishing of Regional Accounts presents for the first time figures according to the new Swedish Standard Industrial Classification 2007 (SNI 2007). The transfer to the new industrial classification is also the reason for the unusually late publishing. Only two years, 2008 and 2009, are published according to SNI 2007. Calculations on the municipality level were made only for 2009, not for 2008. A longer time series according to the new industrial classification (SNI 2007), containing the period 2000-2010, will be published in December 2012.

GDPR is an indicator of a region’s output and can therefore be used for measuring and comparing the degree of economic activity of different regions. GDPR is not a measure of regional welfare or regional income. The sum of all regions’ GDPR is, by definition, equal to the GDP of the nation.

Change in volume is a traditional measure of economic growth. Comparisons in current prices, on the other hand, mean that both price and volume changes affect the figures. By removing the change in price, the change in volume is received.
The figures on change in volume for individual counties fluctuate considerably from one year to another, which calls for a word of caution. Instead of looking at a county’s change in volume for an individual year, the time frame should be extended to a few years in succession.

Commuting between regions affects GDPR per inhabitant. Commuters contribute to the production and GDPR of the region in which they work, but belong to the population of the region in which they reside. Commuting in to a region therefore affects that region's GDPR per inhabitant upwards while commuting out from the region naturally affects GDPR per inhabitant downwards.

GDPR per inhabitant is also influenced by population structures. A region with a relatively large share of the population outside the labour market/production (pensioners, children, etc.) tends to have a lower GDPR per inhabitant than a region where a larger share of the population participates in production.

The industrial structure affects GDPR per employed person. A region with a large proportion of capital intensive industries, with high operating surpluses in combination with few employees, tends to have a relatively high GDPR per employed person. By definition, general government reports no operating surpluses (or rather, reports operating surpluses equal to zero). Therefore, a region with a large proportion of its population employed in general government or in industries with low, or even negative, operating surpluses tends to have a relatively low GDPR per employed person. It should also be noted that the number of employed persons in a region consists of all the people working in that region (both the region’s inhabitants and people commuting in from other regions).

Households’ disposable income is an indicator of the consumption possibilities and savings possibilities of the households. The regional differences are smaller in households’ disposable income per inhabitant than in GDPR per inhabitant. Income is redistributed between individuals (and between regions) through government transfers.

Employment and compensation of employees according to Regional Accounts cannot be directly compared to other statistics on employment and compensation of employees published by Statistics Sweden since Regional Accounts are required to apply the European System of Accounts ESA95.