Research and development in international enterprises 2023
Every two years, the Swedish Agency for Growth Policy Analysis present statistics on research and development (R&D) in Swedish-owned multinational enterprise groups with significant R&D investments in Sweden and abroad, as well as foreign-owned enterprises in Sweden. This report is based partly on the results of a questionnaire on the global R&D activities of large Swedish-owned enterprise groups, and partly on processed statistics from Statistics Sweden’s survey Research and development in the business enterprise sector.
R&D in Sweden
The business enterprise sector accounts for the largest share of R&D performed in Sweden. In 2023 the sector’s intramural R&D expenditure amounted to SEK 166 billion. From an international perspective, the Swedish enterprise sector was the most R&D-intensive among EU member states and ranked among the top performers within the OECD in 2023.
The majority of the R&D in Sweden was performed by Swedish-owned international enterprises. However, between 2021 and 2023, the intramural R&D expenditure increased the most among foreign-owned enterprises. Over time, foreign-owned enterprises have become, and continues to be, an increasingly important part of the business enterprise sector’s R&D landscape. Among the foreign-owned enterprises, Chinese-owned enterprises continued to account for the largest R&D investments in Sweden.
R&D in large Swedish-owned multinational enterprise groups
In 2023, large Swedish-owned multinational enterprise groups invested approximately SEK 126 billion in intramural R&D globally. This was a 15 percent increase compared to 2021, measured in 2023 price levels. During this period, their R&D investments abroad grew more substantially than R&D investments within Sweden. Since 2017, the groups have allocated a larger share of their intramural R&D expenditure abroad than in Sweden, except in 2021.
In 2023, personnel within the enterprise groups performed R&D amounting to 72 700 full-time equivalents, with approximately two-thirds of those based abroad. Over the past two decades, the R&D-personnel abroad have increased by more than 300 percent, which highlights how the enterprise groups are increasing their R&D activities abroad.
The main reasons for locating the R&D in Sweden were access to highly qualified R&D personnel and proximity to important knowledge centers. In other high- income countries as well as middle- and low-income countries, proximity to existing production units was, beside access to qualified R&D personnel, a significant factor for localisation. Notably, however, the importance of this factor appears to have declined in recent years both as a reason to locate R&D in Sweden and in high-, middle-, and low-income countries. While cost savings was not the most important reason overall, it was a more significant factor behind locating R&D in low- and middle-income countries.
