Now, a survey shows that the Swedish capital has a higher share of people working in high-tech companies than any other European country. With 18 percent of the total workforce employed in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, Stockholm was ranked first in the report ”High-Technology Employment in the European Union”, which was released by the prestigious University of Leuven in Belgium and funded by Google.

“High-tech workers experience more favourable labour market outcomes than workers as a whole, as evidenced by lower unemployment rates, the existence of a substantial wage premium, and stronger wage growth,” the report said. “These factors reflect both the relatively high demand for these workers and the economic value they create.”

The Swedish capital is also home to a large number of Scandinavian headquarters for multinational corporations, such as Microsoft, Intel and IBM. A study by Stockholm Chamber of Commerce showed that the Swedish capital has one of the highest figures of global headquarters in Europe.

In recent years, a number of magazines and international studies have highlighted the city’s booming tech startup scene. “Scandinavians have long understood the wired world, with high mobile phone penetration and internet connectivity,” the Financial Times wrote recently. “Stockholm has now matched this with a critical mass of technology startups moving into the city. Capital has followed.”

Forbes magazine also ranked Stockholm as one of the world’s best cities for startups. In 2011, the 22 million high-tech workers employed in the 27 countries of the European Union represented 10 percent of total employment. Sweden was above average, with 12.7 percent of the workforce in high-tech, which represented a total of 592,000 people and an employment growth of 10 percent since 2000. The growth in Stockholm was 15 percent, making a total of 197,000 employees.

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This article was sponsored by Stockholm Business Region.

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