Sweden Economy Overview

By | December 28, 2021

Sweden is one of the most economically developed countries in the world and this despite the fact that the Swedish economy encounters some limits in physical conditions, starting with the climate, and in the rather limited range of natural resources. Even at the end of the 19th century, Sweden was a poor country, almost exclusively devoted to agriculture, fishing and scarce trade with other Scandinavian countries. Industrialization began timidly in the first decades of the 20th century, with the creation of the first power plants, the construction of railways and the application of the Bessemer method (➔ Bessemer, sir Henry) in the steel industry, but it was intense only after World War II and up to the early 1970s. In this period the Swedish economy acquired a solid and modern structure in the secondary sector, whose strengths were represented by the extractive and metallurgical industries. A peculiar feature was the remarkable development assumed by public initiative in the economic life of the country, which was flanked by an efficient private sector. This did not prevent the Sweden also from being affected by the crisis that hit the entire world economy in the 1970s, so much so as to force the government to devalue the crown and question the very objectives of the welfare state. Starting in 1982, the country experienced a new period of economic growth, also favored by the good international economic situation, characterized by the fall in crude oil prices. The reduction in the rate of inflation, the marked improvement in the balance of payments and the creation of thousands of new jobs between 1982 and 1985 were the most evident aspects of that favorable situation. At the turn of the 1980s and 1990s, however, industrial production decreased in the metalworking sector and in other traditional sectors (textiles, garments), and the unemployment rate reached alarming values. The government has intervened several times in support of the sectors in crisis: thus the downsized shipyards have avoided bankruptcy, and the steel industry, oriented towards highly specialized production, has regained its share. During the 1990s, attempts were made to remedy the growing difficulties with a privatization program for state-owned companies, with social security and pension reforms, with the granting of greater autonomy to the central bank in order to contain inflation and, in terms of industrial restructuring, with measures aimed at enhancing the development of the high-tech sectors, which became in the early 21st century. the strength of the Swedish economy. To promote the entry of the Sweden into the European Union (1995) other important economic policy measures were also implemented: the credit market was deregulated; foreign exchange controls were removed (1992); the tax system has been reformed; the entry of foreign investments was favored. social security and private sector incentives. For Sweden economics and business, please check businesscarriers.com.

● The Swedish economy as a whole has a distinctly tertiary character: in 2009, in fact, 70.7% of the active population worked in this sector (which contributed 71.8% to GDP). A very high share of those employed in tertiary activities is absorbed by social and welfare services, necessary for the realization of the so-called Scandinavian model (which, in fact, is the Swedish model). The level of training and education offered is one of the most advanced on the planet; furthermore, compared to other industrialized countries, Sweden is the one that invests most in research and development.

Sweden Economy Overview