(edit title) Why is the Swedish manufacturing declining? Both as a share of the GDP and Annual decline Options

[green_sweden]

The Swedish manufacturing sector value added 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.
Swedish manufacturing falls unexpectedly

Bloomberg said that Swedish manufacturing unexpectedly contracted in April as orders slowed and the pace of job cuts accelerated..

Swedish unemployment has risen to 8.8 percent as companies such as Ericsson AB cut jobs to cope with the reduced demand from abroad, the newswire said.

[skogsbo]

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.

[Hisingen]

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.

[intrepidfox]

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

[skogsbo]

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

[Bender B Rodriquez]

The Swedish manufacturing sector value added 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% i ... (show full quote)

The Swedish manufacturing sector value added 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.
Swedish manufacturing falls unexpectedly ... (hide full quote)

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.

[gplusa]

I thought that Byke had been banned from these boards ?

[trumanshow]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_count..._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.

[trumanshow]

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.

[Bender B Rodriquez]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_count..._United_Nationscheckout 2030.How can Sweden continue to compete when it costs you twice as much as anywhere else apart from Denmar ... (show full quote)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_count..._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. ... (hide full quote)

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.

[Hisingen]

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.

[skogsbo]

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 ' ... (show full quote)

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. ... (hide full quote)

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..

[Hisingen]

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.

[Bender B Rodriquez]

As stated above, many see this decline as part of the current financial situation on a worldwide scale.But I do agree, in such situations its very common over here to see puff ... (show full quote)

As stated above, many see this decline as part of the current financial situation on a worldwide scale.
But I do agree, in such situations its very common over here to see puffed up chests in an attempt to hide or cover up negligence.

Which big companies do still exist in Sweden today?
Saab has died, Orrefors has or is moving shop.
As sweden continues to loose its grip on many areas of manufacturing. ... (hide full quote)

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...ist-6/lang-SVE/

And here the the biggest exporters: http://www.largestcompanies.se/default...ist-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.

[Hisingen]

. . . .. As someone who is in the high-tech export business I take the doomsday preachers on this forum with a big grain of salt.. . .

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.