Field:

Foreign controlled enterprises 2017

Foreign control of enterprises increased in Sweden with 277 enterprises in 2017. After the increase there were 14,388 foreign controlled enterprises in Sweden. The number of employees in the foreign controlled enterprises increased with 39,204 persons, which was an increase with 6 percent compared to last year’s survey. This meant that there were 672,420 employees in foreign-owned companies in Sweden in 2017.

Norwegian ownership increased

Norway was the country that accounted for the largest increase of foreign controlled enterprises in Sweden between 2016 and 2017 with an increase of 81 enterprises; the second largest increase was Switzerland with 42 companies. After the increase Norway is still the country that controls most enterprises in Sweden (2,267 companies) followed by Denmark (1,410 companies) and the US (1,359 companies).

Highest number of employees in German controlled enterprises

Several countries increased their number of employees in Sweden in 2017. The largest increase occurred in companies controlled by Jersey and Luxembourg. The increase amounted to respectively 6,966 and 6,692 employees compared to 2016.

Germany is once again the ownership country with the highest number of employees, 76,640; followed by the US and Norway with 71,326 and 70,763 employees respectively.

Most enterprises in the service sector

Of all foreign controlled enterprises 79 per cent belonged to the service sector and 10 percent to the manufacturing industry in 2017. 64 per cent of all employees in foreign controlled enterprises were employed in the services sector, 30 percent in the manufacturing industry, and 4 percent in the construction industry.

A few large enterprises provide most employment

Of the foreign controlled enterprises in 2017, 87 percent were small with fewer than 50 employees in Sweden. These enterprises, however, accounted only for 11 per cent of employees in foreign controlled enterprises. Large enterprises with 250 or more employees accounted for 3 per cent of all foreign controlled enterprises, but their share of employment was 66 per cent of all employees in foreign controlled enterprises. This has remained largely unchanged compared to previous years.

The smaller foreign controlled enterprises had a larger proportion of their employees within the service sector compared to the large foreign controlled enterprises, which were more evenly distributed between manufacturing industry and the service sector.

Foreign controlled enterprises 2017

Serial number: Statistics 2018:02

Reference number: 2018/112

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