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Posted by: green_sweden 17.Aug.2013, 09:15 AM

http://mecometer.com/infographic/sweden/manufacturing-statistics/ as a % of the GDP has been on a decline from 22 % of the GDP in year 2000 to 16% in 2010. Also the Manufacturing declined by 5% in 2008 and 18% in 2009.

More recently, I googled this article and found out that this trend of decline in manufacturing is continuing through 2013 as well.
http://www.swedishwire.com/economy/17091-swedish-manufacturing-falls-unexpectedly-

Posted by: skogsbo 17.Aug.2013, 12:07 PM

Struggling for a thesis topic?

Firstly which part of manufacturing has declined? All? or specific fields like electronics or heavy metal, car..? Which parts of the world have grown etc. ? there is your answer or at least the beginning of it!

How is decline related to other EU nations of similar size, or EU average? Or even Western average?

Even China has slumped for the past few years, so some decline can hardly be considered abnormal.

What about the West's progressive shift towards service industry? Is Sweden faster or slower than other nations in this.

There you go, there is enough there for a few million words, never mind just a few thousand.

Posted by: Hisingen 17.Aug.2013, 08:16 PM

Adding to what Skogsbo has said, you might open your mind to what is happening in a global perspective rather than having a fixation on a slight decline where Sweden is concerned.
Most countries are not enjoying any expansion, and the cause started a few years back. It can also be combined with the unrest around the Mediterranean Sea, where countries are seemingly intent upon self-destruction. The journalists here will have their attention fixed on what happens to Sweden, but even they need to widen their views to obtain that global perspective instead of just what is happening in their own duck pond.

Posted by: intrepidfox 17.Aug.2013, 08:53 PM

Before the EU referendum in 1994 the so called idiots that rule this country stated that if we went into EU then companies would invest in Sweden. Totally wrong. Companies can get cheaper workers abroad and cut down their costs thus they leave the counrty which means less manufacture

Posted by: skogsbo 17.Aug.2013, 09:06 PM

if you want to see decline, look at Greece, Spain, Italy... etc.. they have nose dived!

Posted by: Bender B Rodriquez 17.Aug.2013, 09:19 PM

Because the Swedish industry is becoming more and more specialized in products and services that does not fall under manufacturing. Companies such as Ericsson do not manufacture much in Sweden nowadays, it is all done in Asia. The Swedish side is more about product development and research.

The total export is quite stable as percentage of GDP; it is the manufacturing that is falling.

Posted by: gplusa 19.Aug.2013, 07:30 AM

I thought that Byke had been banned from these boards ?

Posted by: trumanshow 19.Aug.2013, 04:35 PM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_future_Human_Development_Index_projections_of_the_United_Nations

checkout 2030.

How can Sweden continue to compete when it costs you twice as much as anywhere else apart from Denmark and Norway to buy a sandwich? Is the bread gold plated? I run a small software development company and it makes absolutely no sense to employ Swedish contractors if i need help. Even smalltime developers feel it necessary to move in to Swanky offices as soon as some local quango has backed them with 50000SEK. There have been something like 100 companies gone bankrupt in my small(ish) town this year. As the defenders on this forum will attest to, 'WE' do not need to learn from anyone. It will be the downfall of Sweden. Jantelogen.

Sweden lives on its reputation, hence the constant fightback on this forum. Its no better (or worse) than anywhere else. Its very good at public relations but thats very thin ice to be skating on.

One of the painful things about our time is that those who feel certainty are stupid, and those with any imagination and understanding are filled with doubt and indecision.

Posted by: trumanshow 19.Aug.2013, 04:41 PM

I'm sorry, i don't mean to troll, and i have had a beer and being a keyboard warrior but what a nation of d*cks. Thats why Sweden will decline. I have worked for international software companies for years and in a room full of people from all over the world, the Swedes will be sat, tapping on their smartphones, not saying anything...in red trousers. In Sweden they are all suddenly big shots. The most clever people God created. Douchebags to a man.

Posted by: Bender B Rodriquez 20.Aug.2013, 01:40 AM

Lower level software development salaries are higher in Sweden than many countries. On the other hand, engineers and other highly qualified professions costs much less than in UK/US, etc.

Posted by: Hisingen 20.Aug.2013, 07:29 PM

Basically the same sort of thing that happened in the UK, and yet the rate of unemployment does not appear to have increased by the same ratio. My feeling is that other industries are coming into being that make up in some way for the other losses. Perhaps smaller companies, but nonetheless effective in that they are keeping unemployment down, which would not otherwise be the case.Yes, SAAB is no more, but then it was on the way down for many years when profits were sorely missed. GM was never the answer, it prolonged the agony, and then acquired the know-how that it is very reluctant to relinquish. NEVS will not find it easy.
Orrefors is no longer, along with Kosta. The demand for fine and artistic glass has diminished along with the cash to purchase it. But it is not only Swedish glassworks that are going to the wall, the same thing has happened in Finland, where Nuutajäärvi Notsjö, Finlands oldest glassworks, was swallowed up by Iittala and is now no more.
Today, the capital to support many industries is coming from India,China and other one-time less industrial countries, and they are keeping many well-known names alive, thus proving that the know-how was there if the business acumen wasn't. In many cases the trade unions were not exactly helpful. In fact one could say that they played a not inconsiderable part in the demise of many industries, the very ones that they were supposed to be supporting.
Out-sourcing is another bone of contention, where companies are moving production to cheap labour countries, where the know-how is often lacking but labour costs are far less. But I feel that will change in due course.
Just after the war, Japan was looked upon as a country producing cheap goods, but look at Japan today - a very different quality in their goods and a better standard of living. The same will happen in the 'cheap labour' countries of today and the demand for higher wages will affect prices, so maybe we will see the out-sourcing turning to 'return sourcing' and then the likes of Sweden and the UK will perhaps once again be in demand as industrial sources.
But perhaps not in the next decade.

Posted by: skogsbo 20.Aug.2013, 07:51 PM

Which China and India etc reach a high standard of living and wish to outsource themselves, it won't be to here, unless our living conditions have crashed. It will be to Africa and S/central America..

Posted by: Hisingen 20.Aug.2013, 08:04 PM

I was actually thinking of a bit closer to home, with some of the countries on the other side of the Baltic for example. As to India and China, they are already 'using' both the UK and Africa despite the existing domestic conditions. Something of an anomaly in truth.

Posted by: Bender B Rodriquez 20.Aug.2013, 10:31 PM

Orrefors was a small company.
SAAB is still a big and profitable enterprise in aviation, space, weaponry, etc. It was the previously GM owned SAAB Automobile that went bankrupt, not SAAB.
In a similar manner Volvo and Volvo Cars are two entirely different companies. Volvo Cars is owned by Geely and is doing so so. Volvo, on the other hand is quite profitable and owns Mack Trucks, Renault Trucks, etc.

Here are the biggest companies ranked by number of employees today: http://www.largestcompanies.se/default$/cc-SE/lev2-TopList/lev2Desc-De_st%F6rsta_arbetsgivarna_i_Sverige/AdPageId-106/list-6/lang-SVE/

And here the the biggest exporters: http://www.largestcompanies.se/default$/cc-SE/lev2-TopList/lev2Desc-De_st%F6rsta_exportf%F6retagen/AdPageId-104/list-4/lang-SVE/

As someone who is in the high-tech export business I take the doomsday preachers on this forum with a big grain of salt. Sure, regular manual labor jobs in manufacturing are diminishing, as in the rest of the West, but exports are quite strong (not only manufacturing) and the industry is craving for engineers and other skilled professionals, and has been doing so for years now.

Posted by: Hisingen 21.Aug.2013, 10:45 AM

These same Doomsday preachers get their info from the Doomsday journalists who seem to make a point of blowing up every negative piece of info they can lay their hands on, working on the typical journalistic idea that 'bad news is good news'. That is why we seldom get to read of anything positive.

Posted by: Model T Ford 21.Aug.2013, 03:56 PM

I shall add my two cents: posters seem to be overlooking increasing vertical integration in the world's, particularly in Sweden's, economy.

Seems many companies are trying to integrate up and down the line what they can do rather than increasingly control one or a few lines of production.

Take giant Atlas Copco which employs 40,000 people worldwide, and has bought the Edwards vacuuming group in England to complement what it already does in mining, construction, etc.

Single horizontal giants are just too unstable in today's market, and Swedish manufacturers are taking the lead in apparent diversification, a process which makes it harder to determine what the overall state of the economy, particularly manufacturing, is.

Posted by: Bender B Rodriquez 21.Aug.2013, 06:40 PM

I don't think anyone is trying to discredit the articles. Traditional manufacturing IS declining all over the developed world, including Sweden. What myself and other posters are pointing out is that exports are shifting from manufactured goods to exports of other high-tech products and services.

Posted by: green_sweden 29.Aug.2013, 04:05 PM

Wow, i am delighted by all the replies, thank you for all your answers, I have been too busy the last 10 days, now I have some time reply.

Thank you, your answer opened my eyes to many corners of the topic. Yes, It is true, manufacturing in all industrial countries, even China, Germany... has declined as well due to the global economic crisis. Also, It is true, the rise of the service Industry has truly caused a decline in the % of the Primary Industry added value to the GDP, even if the Primary Industry total added value in $ has not declined.

Posted by: green_sweden 29.Aug.2013, 04:22 PM

On the other hand, as many have posted in their replies, this does not mean that manufacturing is not actually declining in a faster pace than the rest of the industrial world, I do believe that Swedish companies migrating their factories to cheap labor market is actually having a high impact industrial output of Sweden and unemployment in Sweden.

+1


+1

+1


There are still many extremely poor asian countries like Myanmar, Bangladish, Philippines... but eventually, yes, Africa is the future Cheap Labor market

Posted by: dott 8.Sep.2013, 12:06 PM

Don't think so. It requires good education of the ppl, willingness to work and political/economical stability. None of these has Africa.

Posted by: AgeOfReason 9.Sep.2013, 09:33 AM

You should read the economic news. Many african countries are experiencing good economic growth, there are more and more companies moving manufacturing into africa, it has been the planned destination after China for many years.

China labour costs have risen substancially during the last couple of decades. Labour intensive manufacturing requires a few primary things, infrastructure, plentiful cheap labour, cheap reliable raw materials supply. Education is not in that picture! Polical stability comes from corruption and arming the strongest side, stability can be created by the right parties.

China has been building the infrastructure in many African nations for ages now, this is where the western economies always went wrong, they seemed to hold the continent back by helping with aid whilst sucking out the minerals etc... where-as China has been more subtle, it is sucking out the minerals but also building the infrastructure, making a lot of local politicians wealthy, and their economies have a false growth, but growth non-the-less.

For Europe, it is eastern europe though that starts to get expensive quickly, once the former soviet states becomes more stable and a bit less corrput, you will find more and more companies moving manufacturing in that direction to take advantage of the huge raw materials availability (just now it is unreliable sources), and very cheap labour availability.

Posted by: Guest 22.Jan.2014, 05:26 PM

Has anyone considered that the population in the Industrial world is aging?

Posted by: jostein 27.Feb.2014, 06:29 PM

Life aint "nice". Lickwittles, like social democrats and other socialists, that try to make life "nice"* create death, misery and destruction.
Remove the monstrosity the social democrats created and manufacturing returns.

*obviously, all political types only try to make life nice for number one. But in their rethorics and in their method of confiscating everyones money they pretend to try to make life "nice" for everyone.

Posted by: xtenzion2 6.Mar.2014, 03:20 AM

Manufacturing is declining in many western countries.

The only country I know of that manufacturing is increasing is Germany, that is because they are more competetive, it's cheaper to produce goods there because lower taxes, less regulations and weaker unions.

Australia where I live we have big time decline in manufacturing as well.

Posted by: Gamla Hälsingebock 6.Mar.2014, 04:09 AM

Manufacturing anywhere in the first world is declining...hands on labor is the key to it all...first world unionism and standards of labour have caused a dramatic shift to developing countries who pay a lot less for labour...everybody knows that...but the end result lies in robotics...where will we/everybody be then???