Gross pay increased by 2.9 percent compared to the previous year and amounted to SEK 1 439 billion in 2013. Women's gross pay increased by 3.6 percent and men's by 2.2 percent.

The number of gainfully employed persons increased the most in Uppsala County. During the same period, gross pay in the county rose by 3.8 percent. The lowest increase in gross pay was in Kronoberg County, 0.9 percent. Kronoberg was also one of three counties where the number of gainfully employed persons fell during the period.

Employment rate increases with the number of years in Sweden

During the 2000s, the number of foreign-born gainfully employed persons rose by just over 260 000, which is an increase of 4.4 percentage points. Of all the gainfully employed persons in 2013, 676 000 were born outside Sweden.

The employment rate among 20–64 year-olds differs depending on the region of birth. Among Swedish-born persons, the employment rate was 81 percent for women and 83 percent for men. Persons born in South America had the highest employment rate among foreign-born persons in 2013 (65 percent for women and 70 percent for men) while persons born in Africa had the lowest (40 percent for women and 50 percent for men). The statistics do, however, indicate that the employment rate rises with the number of years in Sweden. Among foreign-born persons registered as domiciled in Sweden in 2011 or later, the share of gainfully employed women was 23 percent and the share of gainfully employed men was 41 percent. The corresponding figures for those who have been registered for more than 15 years were 70 percent for women and 71 percent for men.

Continued increase in the hotel and restaurant industry

Between 2012 and 2013, the number of gainfully employed persons in the hotel and restaurant industry rose by 4.8 percent or just over 7 000 people. Gross pay rose by 7.3 percent. Among foreign-born persons, the number of gainfully employed rose by 6.9 percent while gross pay increased by 10.5 percent. Foreign-born persons constituted 36 percent of all gainfully employed persons in the hotel and restaurant industry and their gross pay made up 32 percent of the total for the whole industry.

Manufacturing and mineral extraction was the only industry that contracted during the period in terms of both number of gainfully employed and gross pay. The decrease was true both for the industry as a whole and for foreign-born persons. 

2015-12-03 at 09:30.