Why is the Swedish sub-sector ranking uncertain?

Eurostat suppresses chemicals (C20) and pharmaceuticals (C21) individually for Sweden in nama_10_a64 for 2023. The two together are EUR 10,177 million, known only as a residual. If most of it sits in one of them, that one would rank third. Motor vehicles first and machinery second are certain.

How much does Swedish industrial electricity cost?

EUR 0.1065/kWh in the second half of 2025 in band ID (2,000 to 19,999 MWh per year), excluding VAT and other recoverable taxes: 55% of the EU-27 average and about 39% of the Danish price. It rose 1.6% from the first half, the only rise in this group. Source: Eurostat nrg_pc_205.

How large is Swedish manufacturing?

EUR 72,240.0 million of gross value added in 2025 at current prices, 13.4% of the Swedish total, with 565,400 persons employed and 45,183 manufacturing enterprises of all sizes in 2023. Sources: Eurostat nama_10_a10, nama_10_a10_e, sbs_ovw_act.

Is there a labour shortage in Swedish manufacturing?

Not by the vacancy measure. The manufacturing job vacancy rate fell from 2.0% in 2024 to 1.4% in 2025, below the EU-27 average, while the share of manufacturers naming labour as a limit on production rose from 9.5% to 12.2% and stayed below the EU figure of 18.0%.

Home / Western European manufacturing in 2026: the data

Country data · Sweden · Eurostat, extracted 22 September 2026

Sweden: manufacturing output, jobs, productivity and costs in 2026

Sweden pays about a third of the Danish electricity price and close to Danish wages. Here is what Eurostat publishes, including the sub-sector rows it withholds.

In shortSwedish manufacturing produced EUR 72.2 billion of gross value added in 2025 (Eurostat nama_10_a10), 13.4% of the economy, with 565,400 people employed. Industrial electricity is EUR 0.1065/kWh, the second cheapest in this seventeen-country set, while hourly labour cost reached EUR 47.2, up 10.0% since 2023. Motor vehicles is the largest sub-sector.

Data basisEvery figure here was read from Eurostat and extracted on 22 September 2026, with the dataset code given so each cell can be re-checked. Nothing is estimated or carried over from another year. n/r means Eurostat publishes no value, and the reason is given.

Sweden against the EU-27 average
Indicator	Sweden	EU-27	Year	Dataset
Manufacturing gross value added	EUR 72,240.0 m	EUR 2,668,790.0 m	2025	nama_10_a10
Share of total gross value added	13.4%	15.8%	2025	nama_10_a10
Persons employed in manufacturing	565,400	29,901,580	2025	nama_10_a10_e
Value added per person employed	EUR 127.8k	EUR 89.3k	2025	derived
Manufacturing enterprises, all sizes	45,183	2,168,163	2023	sbs_ovw_act
Hourly labour cost	EUR 47.2	EUR 35.0	2025	lc_lci_lev
Electricity, band ID	EUR 0.1065/kWh	EUR 0.1920/kWh	2025-S2	nrg_pc_205
Manufacturers using at least one AI technology	32.9%	17.3%	2025	isoc_eb_ain2

Source: Eurostat, datasets as listed, extracted 22 September 2026.

Output and trend

Manufacturing gross value added went from EUR 71,544.7 million in 2024 to EUR 72,240.0 million in 2025, +1.0% in current prices (nama_10_a10), against +2.0% for the EU-27. Only Germany (+0.5%) was slower in this group. The series is not deflated, so a 1.0% nominal rise is consistent with falling volume.

Manufacturing is 13.4% of total Swedish gross value added, below the EU-27 figure of 15.8%, which puts Sweden with Belgium and the Netherlands rather than Germany or Austria.

Employment

Employment fell from 571,100 in 2024 to 565,400 in 2025, about 5,700 jobs, 1.0% (nama_10_a10_e), against an EU-27 fall of 0.7% and mild next to Germany, Austria and Belgium, which each lost more than 2%.

Value added per person employed

EUR 127.8 thousand per person employed in 2025 against EUR 89.3 thousand for the EU-27, 1.43 times the EU level and fourth in this group behind Denmark, the Netherlands and Belgium. For the whole economy, tesem160 puts Sweden at 108.8 against EU-27 = 100 in 2025, up from 108.0 in 2024, one of the few countries here to improve.

How this number is builtValue added per person employed = manufacturing gross value added (nama_10_a10, B1G, CP_MEUR, NACE C) divided by persons employed in manufacturing (nama_10_a10_e, EMP_DC, THS_PER, NACE C). Nominal, current prices, not adjusted for purchasing power and not deflated. Derived here, not published by Eurostat.

The three largest sub-sectors, and what Eurostat withholds

Sweden, manufacturing sub-sectors by gross value added, 2023
Rank	Sub-sector (NACE)	Value added 2023	Certain?
1	Motor vehicles (C29)	EUR 14,261 m	yes
2	Machinery n.e.c. (C28)	EUR 11,518 m	yes
3	Wood, paper, printing (C16 to C18)	EUR 6,190 m	no, see below
4	Fabricated metal (C25)	EUR 6,013 m	no, see below
5	Food, beverages, tobacco (C10 to C12)	EUR 4,827 m	no, see below
n/r	Chemicals (C20) and pharmaceuticals (C21), combined residual	EUR 10,177 m	suppressed individually

Source: Eurostat nama_10_a64, B1G, CP_MEUR, 2023. Swedish NACE C total for 2023 is EUR 71,682 m. The C20 and C21 residual is calculated against that total.

Say this plainly: the Swedish ranking below position two is not certainEurostat suppresses C20 (chemicals) and C21 (pharmaceuticals) individually for Sweden in 2023. Together they account for EUR 10,177 million, known only as a residual against the NACE C total. If most of that sits in one of the two, it would rank third, ahead of wood, paper and printing. Positions 1 and 2 are firm; positions 3 to 5 are not. No split has been invented here.

What is certain is the shape: motor vehicles and machinery together are EUR 25,779 million, 36.0% of Swedish manufacturing value added. Sweden and Germany are the only two countries in this group where automotive ranks first, which means tier-1 and tier-2 customer reporting duties apply to a large share of Swedish plants.

Labour cost per hour: up 10.0% since 2023

Hourly labour cost in manufacturing, EUR
Year	Sweden	EU-27	Finland	Denmark
2023	EUR 42.9	EUR 32.1	EUR 41.5	EUR 51.6
2024	EUR 44.5	EUR 33.8	EUR 42.0	EUR 53.4
2025	EUR 47.2	EUR 35.0	EUR 43.6	EUR 55.0
Change 2023 to 2025	+10.0%	+9.0%	+5.1%	+6.6%

Source: Eurostat lc_lci_lev, unit EUR, lcstruct D1_D4_MD5, NACE C, 2023 to 2025. Changes calculated from the rows above. EUR values include exchange-rate effects.

A Swedish manufacturing hour cost EUR 47.2 in 2025, 1.35 times the EU-27 average, and rose 10.0% in two years, faster than the EU (+9.0%), Denmark (+6.6%) and Finland (+5.1%). Sweden is third fastest in this group behind Portugal and Austria. Since the figures are published in euro, part of the movement is the krona, not pay.

Electricity: band ID, second cheapest in the set

Electricity for industrial users, EUR/kWh, band ID (2,000 to 19,999 MWh per year), excluding VAT and other recoverable taxes
Period	Sweden	EU-27	Finland	Denmark
2025-S1	EUR 0.1048	EUR 0.1969	EUR 0.0875	EUR 0.2768
2025-S2	EUR 0.1065	EUR 0.1920	EUR 0.0846	EUR 0.2732
Change	+1.6%	-2.5%	-3.3%	-1.3%

Source: Eurostat nrg_pc_205, siec E7000, nrg_cons MWH2000-19999, tax I_TAX, currency EUR, unit KWH.

At EUR 0.1065/kWh a Swedish plant pays 55% of the EU-27 average and about 39% of the Danish price. Sweden was also the only country in this group where the price rose between the two semesters, by 1.6%.

The consequence is blunt. Energy per part is a weak argument in Sweden: the euro value of kilowatt-hours saved by catching an idle machine is small next to the crew standing at it. Build the case on the labour hour and on throughput.

Vacancies and labour shortage

Measure	Sweden	EU-27	Dataset, period
Manufacturing job vacancy rate, annual	1.4% (2.0% in 2024)	1.5% (1.8%)	jvs_a_rate_r2, 2025
Manufacturing job vacancy rate, quarterly	1.2% then 1.5%	1.5% then 1.5%	jvs_q_nace2, 2025-Q3 and Q4
Manufacturers naming labour as a limit on production	9.5% then 12.2%	15.8% then 18.0%	ei_bsin_q_r2, 2026-Q2 and Q3

Sources: Eurostat jvs_a_rate_r2, jvs_q_nace2 (indicator JVR) and ei_bsin_q_r2 (indicator BS-FLP3-PC). The survey rows are 2026 quarters and are not on the same time base as the annual rate.

Sweden is at or below the EU average on every vacancy measure, and the annual rate fell from 2.0% to 1.4%. The share naming labour as a limit on production stays well below the EU-27 figure. Scarcity is not the Swedish argument; cost and throughput are.

AI and ICT adoption

Enterprises with 10 or more employees, percentage of enterprises
Enterprises using at least one AI technology	2024	2025
Sweden, all sectors	25.1%	35.0%
Sweden, manufacturing	19.5%	32.9%
EU-27, manufacturing	10.6%	17.3%

Source: Eurostat isoc_eb_ai (all sectors) and isoc_eb_ain2 (NACE C), indicator E_AI_TANY, GE10.

Survey breakEurostat broadened the AI question set for the 2025 wave, so part of every 2024 to 2025 jump is methodological rather than real adoption. Treat the two years as two measurements, not a growth rate.

At 32.9%, Swedish manufacturing is 1.9 times the EU-27 manufacturing rate and third in this set behind Belgium and Denmark. As everywhere, the indicator counts any single AI technology anywhere in the enterprise, office use included. The Digital Intensity Index (isoc_e_dii) and robot density are n/r on this page: not retrieved in this pass, nothing substituted.

What this means for a plant in Sweden

Do not build the case on energy. At 55% of the EU average price, saved kilowatt-hours will not pay for a project. Labour cost and output per shift will.
Automotive reporting duties reach a third of the sector. Motor vehicles and machinery are 36.0% of national manufacturing value added, so customer demands for performance evidence apply widely.
Check your own sub-sector figure before quoting it. Eurostat withholds the Swedish chemicals and pharma split for 2023, so any ranking below position two is a guess.
The hour rose 10.0% in two years. Update the stopped-hour cost in your business case, and note that part of the rise is the exchange rate.
Vacancies are falling. The argument is not that you cannot hire, it is that each hour you buy is expensive and a measurable share of it is not producing.

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Questions

Why is the Swedish sub-sector ranking uncertain?: Eurostat suppresses chemicals (C20) and pharmaceuticals (C21) individually for Sweden in nama_10_a64 for 2023. The two together are EUR 10,177 million, known only as a residual. If most of it sits in one of them, that one would rank third. Motor vehicles first and machinery second are certain.
How much does Swedish industrial electricity cost?: EUR 0.1065/kWh in the second half of 2025 in band ID (2,000 to 19,999 MWh per year), excluding VAT and other recoverable taxes: 55% of the EU-27 average and about 39% of the Danish price. It rose 1.6% from the first half, the only rise in this group. Source: Eurostat nrg_pc_205.
How large is Swedish manufacturing?: EUR 72,240.0 million of gross value added in 2025 at current prices, 13.4% of the Swedish total, with 565,400 persons employed and 45,183 manufacturing enterprises of all sizes in 2023. Sources: Eurostat nama_10_a10, nama_10_a10_e, sbs_ovw_act.
Is there a labour shortage in Swedish manufacturing?: Not by the vacancy measure. The manufacturing job vacancy rate fell from 2.0% in 2024 to 1.4% in 2025, below the EU-27 average, while the share of manufacturers naming labour as a limit on production rose from 9.5% to 12.2% and stayed below the EU figure of 18.0%.

Sources

Published by TEEPTRAK SAS, which makes production-monitoring and OEE software. Every figure is sourced on the page. Funding rules, standards and reporting duties change: check the official documents before you budget or commit.