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Structural Business Statistics 2019 (preliminary data)

Growth in the business sector before the coronavirus pandemic

Statistical news from Statistics Sweden 2020-12-09 9.30

The enterprises in the business sector increased their value added by 7 percent and the number of employees by 1 percent in 2019 compared with 2018. The largest increase was noted in the industry group energy, water supply and sewerage. The enterprises in information, communication and real estate activities also marked a positive development this year.

There has been a positive development in the Swedish business sector over the past five years, which continued in the year before the coronavirus pandemic. In addition to the rise in value added and in the number of employees, net turnover and total assets increased by 5 percent and 7 percent respectively. The distribution of value added and the number of employees by industry grouping is shown in the table below. The table also shows the development between 2018 and 2019.

Value added and number of employees by industry groupings according to NACE Rev2, 2019
Industry grouping according to NACE Rev2 (divisions)Value addedNumber of employees (FTE)
 SEK MillionDevelopment %NumberDevelopment %
Agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining and quarrying (A, B) 94 885 15 48 845 1
Manufacturing (C) 577 290 3 520 465 ‑1
Energy, water supply and sewerage (D, E) 118 550 17 47 680 2
Construction (F) 264 470 7 338 865 1
Trade (G) 438 510 7 511 775 0
Transportation, hotels and restaurants (H, I) 238 245 6 365 215 1
Information, communication and real estate (J, L) 465 585 11 265 370 2
Professional, scientific, technical, administrative and support service activities (M, N) 408 215 5 526 065 2
Education, human health and social work activities (P, Q) 155 335 5 251 400 ‑1
Arts, entertainment, recreation and other service activities (R, S) 54 715 10 67 450 1
Total Business sector 2 815 800 7 2 943 130 1

Value added (the contribution to GDP) increased in all industry groups in the business sector between 2018 and 2019. The energy, water and sewage industry group, in which growth was 17 percent, increased the most. In this industry group, total value added amounted to just under SEK 120 billion in 2019. The agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining and quarrying industry group also grew; value added increased by 15 percent and amounted to SEK 95 billion. The industry groups information, communication and real estate and culture, entertainment, leisure and other service activities, respectively, increased their value added by 11 percent and 10 percent in 2019 compared with 2018. In total, the information, communication and real estate industry group contributed almost SEK 470 billion, while the industry group arts, entertainment, recreation and other service activities contributed SEK 55 billion to GDP in 2019.

In 2019, the manufacturing industry group showed signs of a slowdown; growth in value added was 3 percent and the number of employees decreased by 1 percent. The manufacturing industry employed just over 520 000 employees and value added was almost SEK 580 billion in 2019. The number of employees also decreased by 1 percent in education, human health and social work activities, while the number of employees in the trade industry group remained unchanged.

In 2019, professional, scientific, technical, administrative and support service activities was the industry group with the most employees, just over 526 000 people, which is 2 percent more than in the previous year. Value added in this industry group amounted to just under SEK 410 billion. The number of employees also increased in the industry groups energy, water supply and sewerage, and information, communication and real estate by 2 percent compared with 2018.

Definitions and explanations

Structural Business Statistics is the only survey that is based on the annual accounts of all non-financial enterprises in Sweden.

All information in this item of statistical news is reported in current prices. All comparisons have been made with final data for 2018.

Net turnover:Net turnover excluding excise taxes and merchanting.

Employees: Average number of employees, full-time equivalents: two half-time employees are counted as one full-time employee.

Value added:Actual production minus costs for purchased goods and services, except salaries, payroll taxes and the costs of goods for resale (because only the trade margin for these is included in the production value). Value added can also be referred to as the contribution to GDP (gross domestic product).

Business sector: Enterprises conducting business activities in Sweden regardless of legal form. Businesses with financial activities and housing cooperatives are not included in the Structural Business Statistics. Public administration activities are also not included.

Information on the quality of the statistics, production methods, frequently requested tables, charts, the statistical database and more is available on the Statistics Sweden website here:

Structural business statistics

The database contains data, by industry, on net turnover, value added, total assets, and number of employees. It is also possible to produce entire income statements and balance sheets for each industry.

Next publishing will be

The next statistical news in this series is scheduled for publication on 2021-05-05 at 09.30.

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