Net turnover in Sweden‘s business sector rose 4.2% in 2023, to SEK 12.46 billion, compared to the previous year, with large enterprises of 250 or more contributing most to this increase.
Although micro enterprises – those with nine employees or less – dominate the country’s business sector, large firms were the primary drivers of growth, the data showed, with large enterprises contributing SEK 477 billion of the total SEK 500 billion increase in net turnover, Statistics Sweden said.
This accounts for 53% of the total, up from 51.3% the previous year.
“In terms of numbers, the Swedish business sector is dominated by […] so-called micro enterprises, however, it is the largest enterprises that contribute the most to the total increase in net turnover in 2023”, commented Hugo Lindblom, statistician at Statistics Sweden.
Job creation
Employment trends show a similar dynamic, with large firms adding around 69,000 jobs in 2023, a 5.2% rise.
Overall, the number of employees in the business sector rose by 34,000 during the year, which would indicate that smaller-sized businesses saw declines in employment rates.
“When it comes to number of employees, it is those who already had employed more than 250 persons that are increasing”, added Mariah Nilsson, statistician at Statistics Sweden. “Other size classes have reduced number of employees, but the increase in the largest size class contributes to the 1.1% increase in the entire business sector.”
Sweden boasts just over one million business enterprises, which collectively employ three million people.
The net margin within Sweden’s business sector declined marginally from 7.7% to 7.2% last year, while return on total capital increased from 7.9% to 8.9%. The operating margin before depreciations held steady at 8.7%.
Sector employment
Manufacturing was the largest sector by employment, with 63.1% of workers in that sector employed by large enterprises, which collectively accounted for around four fifths (78.5%) of the sector’s turnover.
Micro-enterprises dominated in agriculture, forestry, and fishing, meanwhile, accounting for 70% of net turnover and nearly 59% of employment.
In accommodation and food services, there was a near-even distribution of employment and turnover, but large enterprises grew significantly in both employment (15.6%) and turnover (17.1%), while micro enterprises reported a slight decline. Read more here.
