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6 - Other
sectors
Services contribute
68% of the GNP and employ nearly 71% of the working
population. They occupy a major part of the Swedish
economy : financial services, insurances, real
estate and services supplied to
companies.
The leading Swedish
companies
Name ... Sector ... Stock
exchange value (in millions $)
Ericsson Koncernen ...
Telecommunications ... 23.018
Astra ... Pharmaceuticals ... 21.410
Volvo ... Cars, lorries, buses ... 11.035
Pharmacia ... Pharmaceuticals ... 7.468
Investor ... Banking, insurances ... 5.179
Stora Kopparberg Bergslags AB ... Paper, minerals
... 4.254
Svenska Handelsbanken ... Banking ... 3.825
Svenska Cellulosa ... Paper, pulp ... 3.516
Electrolux AB ... Electrical appliance ...
3.413
Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken ... Banking ...
3.305
At present the Swedish
economy is involved in the frenzy of the new
economy and start-ups. After a record sale of
mobile telephones (60% of Swedes own one), Sweden
is living the euphoria of internet (41% of the
population are connected).
In 1998 Göran Persson,
the Prime Minister adopted a revolutionary measure
: companies could provide either bought or rented
computers for all their employees, to be installed
at home. The employee paid a monthly rent over
three years which was deducted from his income tax.
The social charges of the company were lowered as
the monthly salary was less the amount of the rent.
As a result 1.5 million computers were sold in 1998
and 60% of the Swedish population have a computer
at home.
Sweden dreams of becoming the
kingdom of the net-economy ...
Stockholm would like to
become a northern 'Silicon Valley' with its
scientific park of Kista. 28,000 people work in
this park in 700 companies, 400 of which are high
tech companies. About 25% of them are foreign (IBM,
Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, Oracle, Nokia,
Philips).
7 -
Population
The population of
Sweden is estimated at 8,862,000 inhabitants.
Urban population : 83.22%
Immigrants : 1 million = 11% of the
population
0-14 year olds : 18.83%
15-64 year olds : 63.96%
65 years and over : 17.21%
Life expectancy : 79.18
years
Rate of marriages :
0.43%.
Rate of divorces : 0.23%.
Litteracy rate : 99%.
Rate of education : 92% pre-schooling, 100% primary
and secondary, 96% higher education
(Unesco).
8 - Language
The official language
is Swedish, but English is very often spoken in the
business world. Many people understand and speak
French and German.
9 -
Religion
In spite of total
freedom of worship, nearly 90% of the population
are Lutherans. Since 1527 the Lutheran Church has
been considered the State religion.
10 -
Weights, measures and voltages
The metric system is
in use.
Electricity is 220 volts, with an alternative
current system and the plugs are identical to those
used in France.
11 -
Money
The official currency
is the Swedish Kroner.
1 SEK = 0.75 FF
1 euro = 8.7310 SEK
Credit cards are generally
accepted everywhere.
13 -
Climate
The climate varies
enormously due to the latitude of the country, but
benefits from temperate effects from the Gulf
Stream.
The best period to travel
there is from the beginning of June to the end of
August. In this period, particularly in June, the
days are very long.
In summer the Baltic Sea at Malmo is 16 or
17°C, but only 15° in Stockholm. The
lakes are slightly warmer but never reach above
20° even in mid-August.
To the south of Stockholm the
islands of Gotland and Faarb have pleasant and
sunny micro-climates.
From mid-September the sky
clouds over and it starts getting cold from October
on in the north and from November in the
south.
Winter is severe and long, it
freezes from October to May and the lakes freeze up
from November to April. Winter is the season of
mountain skiing and cross-country skiing. The best
ski-stations are in the Jämtland and the
Norrland.
Average temperatures
(max/min) :
.................................J
..........F ........M ......A ......M .........J
............J ..........A ...........S ........O
......N .......D
Stockholm ..........-1/-5....
-1/-5 ....2/-4 ....8/1.... 14/6.... 19/11.... 22/14
....20/13 ....15/9.... 9/5.... 5/1....
2/-2
Göteborg
.............1/-3..... 1/-4 .....4/-2 ....9/2
....15/7 ....19/11 .....21/14 ....20/13 ...16/10
..11/6 ..6/2 ....3/1
14
- Insects
There are a lot of
mosquitoes in summer. They come out after sunset,
particulary in the lake districts.
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