• Sweden front-runner in ‘War of Talent’

Companies in Sweden spend less and less money on research and development, new figures from statistics Sweden showed Thursday.

Swedish enterprises invested 78 billion kronor ($11 million) on R&D; last year. This is a decrease of 2.6 billion kronor compared to 2007. Still, enterprises' R&D; expenditures amounted to a 2.53 percent share of GDP, which is an increase from 2.47 percent compared to 2007, in constant prices and at the price level of 2009.

The goods producing enterprises increased their R&D; expenses by roughly 2 billion kronor between 2007 and 2009. However, the service producing enterprises had reduced their R&D; expenses by 5 billion kronor.

In 2009, 44 percent of all R&D; expenses were within the industries for "manufacturing of computers electronics, optical equipment" and within the industry for "motor vehicles and other transport means".