Stockholm Economy Statistis Q3 2011 - Continued robust growth and increasing wages

Continued robust growth and increasing wages

The latest Stockholm Economy Statistical Report indicates continued robust growth for Stockholm. Wages in the city continue rising, and the private sector is the engine. A positive trend in the public sector is keeping the momentum up. The growth rate of the private sector has declined slightly and unemployment is up.

“The labor market in Stockholm continues to be strong despite the fact that unemployment is rising again. The high rate of new business creation is extremely positive. The fact that the city is also gaining more and more residents shows that Stockholm is immensely attractive, which is gratifying,” says Olle Zetterberg, CEO of Stockholm Business Region.

“Despite the unsure economic situation of the world around us, overall, Stockholm is demonstrating robust growth. The effort to make Stockholm Europe’s leading sustainable growth region continues.”

Summary:

Wages
Wages increased by 7.2 percent in Stockholm county and 6.9 percent in the City of Stockholm compared with the preceding quarter. In the rest of the country in the same period: 5.5 percent.

Jobs
Employment and the number of available jobs continue to perform well, but the pace is slowing down. Compared with same period last year, the number of employed residents has increased by 2.9 percent in the city.

New companies
The high rate of new business creation in Stockholm continues, with an annual rate of a historically high 24,700 new businesses in the county and 14,300 in the city.

Population
Stockholm’s population is increasing at an accelerating rate. During the third quarter of 2011, the number of residents increased by 0.5 percent in the county and 0.7 percent in the city. For the past four quarters, Stockholm county alone has accounted for 55 percent of Sweden’s population increase during the period.

Sales
Sales saw a weak upturn of 2.5 percent in the county. Transportation, information and communication were the strongest industries in the county.

Commercial overnight stays
There were 3.151 million commercial overnight stays in Stockholm, of which 2.228 million were in the City of Stockholm—an increase of 2 and 3 percent respectively compared with the same quarter in 2010. Among non-Swedish visitors, China, Poland and the US had the largest increases in volume.

About Stockholm Business Region
Stockholm Business Region is the official investment promotion agency for the Stockholm region. Stockholm is one of Europe’s most dynamic regions. With continual high growth, world-leading clusters within life science, cleantech and ICT, and as a center for fashion and design, Stockholm is the natural capital city of Scandinavia.
www.stockholmbusinessregion.com