Structural Business Statistics 2018
Another year of growth in the business sector
Statistical news from Statistics Sweden 2020-05-06 9.30
The business sector continued its positive development in 2018. Net turnover increased by 7 percent and enterprises’ contribution to GDP increased by 5 percent compared with 2017. Enterprises with 0-9 employees contributed 24 percent to the value added in the business sector, and enterprises with more than 250 employees contributed 39 percent. Fixed costs accounted for 29 percent of enterprises’ other external costs.
The business sector continued to develop positively in 2018. Net turnover amounted to SEK 9 111 billion, an increase of 7 percent, and value added amounted to SEK 2 633 billion, an increase of 5 percent compared with 2017. The positive trend for value added has endured since 2013. Approximately 2 920 000 persons were employed in the business sector in 2018, which is an increase of 1.6 percent compared with 2017. The number of employees declined during the financial crisis, but has increased steadily since 2010.
Fixed costs in the business sector
Fixed costs in the business sector for 2018 are presented in the Statistical Report. Fixed costs refers to costs that enterprises have regardless of the amount of goods or services that are produced and sold. This includes costs for personnel (permanent employment), depreciation, interest costs on long-term loans and parts of Other external costs. The table below shows total Other external costs and fixed costs under other external costs. The fixed costs include costs for rent for premises, leasing, short-term rent, freight, transport, energy, telecommunications, and repair and maintenance costs.
| Industry section (NACE Rev2) | Other external costs (total) | Fixed costs under other external costs | Share of fixed costs under other external costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mining and quarrying (B) | 14 427 | 7 996 | 55 |
| Manufacturing (C) | 416 158 | 148 798 | 36 |
| Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply (D) | 52 347 | 13 086 | 25 |
| Water supply; sewage, waste management and remediation activities (E) | 18 655 | 7 294 | 39 |
| Construction (F) | 93 644 | 31 478 | 34 |
| Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (G) | 355 349 | 126 638 | 36 |
| Transportation and storage (H) | 297 111 | 38 649 | 13 |
| Accommodation and food service activities (I) | 50 308 | 27 642 | 55 |
| Information and communication (J) | 225 838 | 27 481 | 12 |
| Real estate activities (L) | 129 511 | 71 195 | 55 |
| Professional, scientific and technical activities (M) | 156 144 | 30 148 | 19 |
| Administrative and support service activities (N) | 116 979 | 15 870 | 14 |
| Education (P) | 19 075 | 10 046 | 53 |
| Human health and social work activities (Q) | 30 197 | 12 708 | 42 |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation (R) | 47 601 | 8 279 | 17 |
| Other service activities (S) | 14 631 | 5 626 | 38 |
| Total | 2 037 974 | 582 933 | 29 |
Source: Structural business statistics 2018.
The cost structure differs between sections, which is apparent in the share of fixed costs under Other external costs. Section J (Information and communication), only had 12 percent in fixed costs, compared with 55 percent in section B (Mining and quarrying) and section L (Real estate). Section P (Education) also had a high share of fixed costs at 53 percent.
Value added per size class
The business sector consists mainly of small and medium-sized enterprises. A significant proportion, 96 percent, are micro-enterprises with fewer than 10 employees. These micro-enterprises contributed just under one fourth of total value added in 2018. Enterprises with 10–49 employees accounted for just under 3 percent of the enterprises and contributed 18 percent to value added. Only 0.5 percent of the enterprises were medium-sized (50–249 employees), yet they contributed 19 percent to value added. Enterprises with 250 employees or more accounted for just under 0.1 percent of the enterprises, yet they contributed no less than 39 percent to value added in the business sector.
Structural Business Statistics is the only survey that is based on annual accounts from all non-financial enterprises in Sweden. Data is also presented by industry (according to NACE Rev2) in the databases.
Definitions and explanations
All information is reported in current prices. All comparisons in this statistical news have been made using final data for 2017.
Business sector: Enterprises conducting business activities in Sweden irrespective of legal form. Businesses with financial activities and housing cooperatives are not included in Structural Business Statistics. Public administration activities are also not included.
NACE Rev2: Classification used to sort enterprises by activity.
Net turnover: Net turnover, excluding excise taxes and merchanting.
Employees: Average number of employees, full-time: two half-time employees are counted as one full-time employee.
Value added: Actual production minus costs for purchased goods and services, except salaries, payroll taxes and the costs of goods for resale (because only the trade margin for these is included in the production value).
Other external costs: Costs that the enterprises have with external counterparts. Among these the following are classified as fixed costs: rent for premises, leasing, short-term rentals, freight, transport, energy, telecommunications and repair and maintenance costs. Examples of costs that are not fixed costs are: consumable equipment, advertising and PR, corporate insurance, staffing agencies, purchased services, purchase of computer programs, exchange rate differences, and reorganisation costs.
Size class: Breakdown by size based on the number of employees (full-time equivalents). The groups in this statistical news follow the size classes used by Eurostat, 0–9 employees, 10–49 employees, 50–240 employees, and more than 250 employees.
Next publishing will be
The next statistical news in this series is scheduled for publishing on 2020-12-09 at 09.30.
Statistical Database
More information is available in the Statistical Database
Feel free to use the facts from this statistical news but remember to state Source: Statistics Sweden.