Talents, Labour Market and Quality of Work Sweden & Stockholm

Economy & business
The Stockholm region covers a surface area of 6,779 km2 and 26 municipalities, with a population of 2,308,143 inhabitants in 2018 (Eurostat, 2019). Stockholm is the capital of Sweden and the national centre for policymaking and public administration.
Stockholm County has one of Europe’s highest GRP (Gross Regional Product) per capita. Out of 276 regions in Europe, Stockholm ranks 10th. In the last five-years, Stockholm County ranked among the top 10 in Eurostat’s ranking of GDP per capita. Stockholm GDP per capita is 74 percent higher than the EU average.
The Stockholm Region accounts for 51 percent of Sweden’s GDP, thus growing faster than the rest of Sweden. Within the region, Stockholm County has seen the strongest growth.
The majority of new companies in Sweden are created in the Stockholm Region. One third was created in Stockholm County.
Companies in Stockholm County and the Stockholm Region have, on average, more employees compared to the rest of Sweden. The number of employees per company is significantly higher in industries such as Energy and environment, Finance and Insurance and Transport.

  • Gross national product (2018): € 556 bn
  • Gross regional product (2017, Stockholm): € 148 bn * A number of newly registered companies in Sweden (2016): 71 825
  • 16.1 new companies per 1000 inhabitants, in 2016 (Stockholm County).
  • Three biggest industries employment intensive sectors in Stockholm are health and social care services (409 000 employees), business services (374 000 employees) and trade (280 000 employees)

Job market
Of the total number of people in employment in Sweden, a fourth (1.2 million people) is in Stockholm County. The Stockholm Region accounts for 46% of Sweden’s employment rate (2.25 million).
The labour market in Stockholm has had a sound development over a long period of time. Since 2008, the employment rate in Stockholm County has grown by 18%, which is in total185,800 people. In the City of Stockholm, the trend has been even stronger – 22%, or in total 94,000 people.
In the whole of the Stockholm Region, employment has increased by 237,400, meaning that the region has accounted for 59% of Sweden’s total employment growth during 2008-2016.
The rate of unemployment in Stockholm has declined in absolute as well as relative terms. This applies for both open unemployment, youth unemployment and long-term unemployment since 2014.

  • Unemployment rate: 5.6% (2018), 5.8% (2017), 6.9% (2016), 7.4% (2015), 7.9% (2014)
  • Percentage of people who have been unemployed for over a year: 1.2%
  • Percentage of people between 15-64 with a paid job: 76%
  • Gender inequality (men – women): 1.04
  • Job vacancies: 100,000 – 130,000 (2017), 80,000 – 130,000 (2016), 70,000 – 110,000 (2015)
  • An average annual personal earning: USD 42 816
  • An average amount of hours a Swede works per year: 1611 (almost 10% less than the OECD average of 1776 hours per year)
  • Share of ICT staff of total employees: 6.1%
  • Percentage of people working 50 hours or more per week: 1.1%
  • Average amount of time spent daily on personal care and leisure (incl. sleeping and eating): 15.2 h
  • Out of all the employees in Sweden, 46% are located in Stockholm region (2.25 million employees)

Education
The Stockholm Region attracts well-educated people, meaning there is access to a highly qualified workforce.
The region has many workplaces in industries where a large share of employees has a post-secondary education. The region also has a large supply of people with post-secondary education.
In the Stockholm Region, 27% of the population between 25-64 years of age are considered highly qualified, meaning that they have a post-secondary education of more than three years. The largest share of highly qualified people is in the City of Stockholm, where about 38% of 25-64 year-olds have a post-secondary education longer than three years.
The share of people with some form of post-secondary education is higher in the Stockholm Region compared to Sweden at large; close to 50% in Stockholm County and 43% in the Stockholm Region, compared to ca 41% in Sweden.

  • Average number of years of education: 19.2
  • Percentage of people who have completed upper secondary education: 83%
  • Average performance of students according to PISA (Program for International Student Assessment): 496
  • Number of people working in a foreign-owned company in Stockholm (2016): 237 000 (1 in 5 all employees in Stockholm)
  • A percentage of people with post-secondary education in Sweden: 43%
  • A percentage of people with post-secondary education in Stockholm region: 50%
Games education
  • Number of specialised university programmes including courses including or focusing on games development: 50
  • Number of students (per year) enrolling for games specific university courses: 1 300
  • Number of non-university courses or training involving or focusing on games: 20
  • Number of people (per year) enrolling for games specific training: 250

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Status: 2020

Sources