The Swedish krona has weakened considerably in recent years against the largest trading currencies, the euro and the US dollar. The underlying reasons are disputed, but the weak krona has become a challenge to be reckoned with for Swedish export companies.
To uncover how the weak Swedish krona impacts export opportunities for Swedish companies', Business Sweden commissioned a survey where some 300 financial directors in a range of sectors were interviewed.
The results confirm that the weak krona is having a major impact on the companies. All industries except Food are being hit by the increased costs of purchasing intermediate goods, which are mainly sourced from Europe. The most companies losing out the most are found in chemicals and pharmaceuticals and automotive, two sectors that account for 40 per cent of Sweden’s export of goods.
In the Paper and wood sector, which accounts for 10 per cent of Sweden’s export of goods, the conditions for improving both export sales and profitability have become more favourable by the weak krona.
The survey also shows that around half of the companies do not have a strategy in place for managing currency risk, and two-thirds view currency risk as a considerable challenge at the moment.
Download the report The krona and Swedish exports to get the full overview of the survey results.
ABOUT THE SURVEY
Business Sweden commissioned the research company Origo Group to map how Sweden’s industrial companies are being impacted by the current value of the Swedish krona against major currencies such as the euro and the US dollar.
The survey was carried out through telephone interviews with finance directors or equivalent executives at Swedish and foreign-owned industrial companies with manufacturing or assembly of products in Sweden with exports to foreign markets, with at least 20 employees in Sweden.
A total of 301 companies responded to the survey. In the analysis of the survey results, Business Sweden has divided the companies into 8 industries on the basis of the companies' registered SNI codes (standard for Swedish industry classification).
