Foreign affiliates 2023
Foreign control of enterprises decreased in Sweden with 450 enterprises in 2023. after the decrease there were 8,160 foreign controlled enterprises in Sweden. The number of employees in the foreign controlled enterprises increased with 29,127 persons, which was an increase with 4 percent compared to last year’s survey. This meant that after the increase there were 837,679 employees in foreign-owned companies in Sweden in 2023.
Denmark ownership decreased
Denmark was the country that accounted for the largest decrease of foreign controlled
enterprises in Sweden between 2022 and 2023 with a decrease of 77 enterprises. Norway
is the country that controls most enterprises in Sweden (978 companies) followed by the
US (977 companies) and Denmark (889 companies).
The number of employees increases most in companies controlled
from the US
Several countries increased their number of employees in Sweden in 2023. The largest
increases occurred in companies controlled from the US and Luxembourg. The increases
amounted to 12,291 and 7,023 employees. Over a longer period in 2013 to 2023, the
largest increase in the number of employees has been in companies controlled from USA,
Germany and the Netherlands with 24,989, 23,466 and 21,302 employees.
Highest number of employees in US controlled enterprises
USA is the ownership country with the highest number of employees, 97,941; followed
by Germany and Norway with 92,339 and 75,117 employees respectively. USA and
Germany have swapped places in this year's survey as the country with the most
employees in Sweden.
A few large enterprises provide most employment
Of the foreign companies in 2025, 25 per cent had no employees and 54 per cent of the
companies had 1 to 49 employees in Sweden. These enterprises, however, accounted only
for 6 per cent of employees in foreign controlled enterprises. Large enterprises with 250
or more employees accounted for 7 per cent of all foreign controlled enterprises, but their
share of employment was 79 per cent of all employees in foreign controlled enterprises.
The companies with 50 to 249 employees in Sweden accounted for 13 per cent of the
foreign companies and its share of employment was 15 per cent
