Sweden

Sweden has remained very weak and stable for two years

economic indicators

The main growth drivers are household consumption, investment, government spending and exports. Their evolution thus directly impacts the evolution of GDP.

In 2012, household consumption, investment, government spending and exports slowed, removing 2.6 points from growth. Despite the slight increase in their disposable income, households will only modestly increase their spending in 2013. The sluggish labor market, the rise in unemployment (8% of the active population), which affects 23% of the young population households will need to be cautious, hence the high level of the savings rate, which represents almost 10% of disposable income. Households also have a very high level of debt (170% of disposable income), which is due to the fact that the majority of them hold variable rate mortgages.

As the rate of utilization of domestic and international production capacity and orders decreases at the end of 2012, companies will be cautious in terms of investment. The latter will nonetheless be favored by the government's decision to allocate an amount of SEK 23 billion (0.6% of GDP) to financing, in particular, mining infrastructure.

geographical and environmental

Sweden, especially the capital city of Stockholm, is not a region specially exposed to natural disasters, so the seismic risks are almost nil.

In the event of a chemical risk that may arise following a nuclear accident, for example, the Swedish authorities have drawn up a response plan that includes the distribution of breathing equipment.

Finally, with regard to health risks, there is no specific risk associated with diseases transmitted by water, food or interhuman contact. The country has been affected by the avian influenza epizootic, but no case of transmission to humans has been observed.

Conclusion

Following the analysis we have just carried out, we can say that Sweden presents little risk for foreign companies wishing to set up on this territory. Although it enjoys lower media coverage on the international scene, it has many advantages in terms of security and financial stability.

Thus, despite the impact of the crisis, Sweden has managed to maintain positive growth and reduce the weight of its public debt.