In 2022, just over 1.6 million enterprises were registered in the Nordics [1], unchanged compared to 2021. The largest sector, measured in number of enterprises, was Professional, scientific and technical activities, which made up 22% of the total number of enterprises [2]. Numerically, the Nordic enterprises constitute about 6% of the EU-enterprises.

Structural business statistics describes the structure, conduct and performance of economic activities here classified by the coding system NACE Rev.2 [3]. In this article we focus on enterprises classified as Total business economy (sectors B-N) and Repair of computers, personal and household goods (S95), excluding Financial and insurance activities (K).

Development over time

The development of the number of enterprises in the Nordics and in the EU are very similar for the years up until 2017. In 2018, the number drops in the Nordics, which is likely fully caused by three of the Nordic countries, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway changing to counting enterprise units instead of legal units. An enterprise consisting of several legal units will thus from 2018 and onwards only be counted once. For Sweden, where this had the most impact, a decrease in number of enterprises of 10% was seen from 2017 to 2018 [4].

The years 2018 to 2020 indicates similar developments in both the Nordics and the EU. In 2021, a new regulation for the European Business Statistics was implemented, causing another break in timeseries that seems to affect the Nordics more than the EU. In 2022, the number of enterprises increases by only 0.3% in the Nordics, compared to 2.8% in the EU.

In 2022 the largest proportion of Nordic enterprises were registered in Sweden, 41%. Finnish and Norwegian shares are similar, 21% and 20% respectively. The Danish enterprises constitutes just over 15% of the Nordic enterprises, Icelandic enterprises 2% and Ålandese enterprises 0.1%.

Source: Nordic Statistics Database, ENTP01

*The vertical lines at the years 2018 and 2021 mark the time series breaks described above the chart

Enterprises by sector

Analysing the number of enterprises by economic sector, some significant differences between the Nordics and the EU can be noted. Data by sector is available only for Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.

In the Nordics, Professional, scientific and technical activities is the largest sector, with 22% of enterprises. In the EU, the largest sector, with 23%, is Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles.

The sectors Information and communication, Real estate activities, Construction and Information and communication have larger shares in the Nordics, while the sectors Accommodation and food service activities, Manufacturing and Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles have larger shares in the EU. Transportation and storage and Administrative and support service activities have similar shares in the two regions. Sectors Repair of computers and personal and household goods; Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities; Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply and Mining and quarrying have been omitted from the graph as these sectors constitute 1% or less each of all enterprises in both regions.

Source: Nordic Statistics Database, ENTP01

There are noticeable differences between the countries in the Nordic region. Sweden stands out with the largest share in a single sector - Professional, scientific and technical activities - covering 27% of all enterprises. For the three other Nordic countries the share is between 7 and 10 percentage points lower. The sector Real estate activities also has a relatively large spread, with a difference of 9 percentage points between Norway, with the largest share, and Sweden, with the smallest share. The other sectors are quite similar, with differences in share between the countries of between two and three percentage points.

Sectors Repair of computers and personal and household goods; Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities; Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply and Mining and quarrying have been omitted from the graph as these sectors constitutes 1% or less each of all enterprises in all four countries.

Source: Nordic Statistics Database, ENTP01

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[1] No data is available for Greenland or Faroe Islands. For Iceland, 2021 values are used as 2022 has not yet been published.

[2] Based on data for Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. No data by sector available for Iceland or Åland, but Åland is included in data for Finland.

[3] Statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community, read more here: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/3859598/5902521/KS-RA-07-015-EN.PDF.

[4] The development over time is difficult to analyse, as several method changes have been implemented. Between 2011, the first year for which there are EU27 numbers, and 2022, breaks in the time series are reported for two separate years, 2018 and 2021.

From reference year 2018, all countries are to be fully transitioned from the statistical unit ‘legal unit’ to the ‘enterprise’ unit. This affects, among other countries, Denmark, Norway and Sweden. This caused breaks in the timeseries for the countries affected, and thus for the Nordics and the EU. An enterprise consisting of several legal units will from 2018 and onwards only be counted once, which decreased the number of enterprises for Sweden with 10% and for Norway by 6% between 2017 and 2018. For Denmark the number of enterprises in 2018 was on par with that in 2017.

In 2021, the implementation new regulations for the European business statistics gave a break in time series for all countries where data is collected from Eurostat, i.e. all but Åland. More on this here: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=European_Business_Statistics&stable=0#Structural_Business_Statistics_.28SBS.29