Executive summary

This report captures Swedish companies’ collective views on the current business climate and future expectations in 22 markets globally, where their local presences have given them invaluable experience.

The 1,600 respondents are sending a clear message:

Overall, Swedish companies operating abroad find that the business climate is improving compared to last year. Only Swedish companies in the APAC region report minor challenges.

THE FOLLOWING KEY INSIGHTS SUPPORT THIS ENCOURAGING MESSAGE:

– The view on the current business climate has improved or remained unchanged in the majority of the markets located in

Americas, Western Europe and MEA+ compared to 2021 results. APAC is the region where the business climate differs most between markets, revealing a worsened outlook and less optimistic sentiment in China and Hong Kong.

– A majority of Swedish companies were profitable last year. The highest share of profitable performance was reported in Western Europe. Although Swedish companies in China and Hong Kong report pessimistic business climate views, their financial performance in the past year was still profitable.

– As much as 77 percent of the Swedish companies expect their industry turnover to increase the coming next 12 months.

Markets in the Americas region have the most positive expectations of industry turnover followed by Western Europe, and

MEA+. In the APAC region, Swedish companies in China, Hong Kong and Indonesia forecast a slight upturn of revenues and profits in 2022, although with a bleaker outlook compared to last year’s expectations.

– Globally, slightly more than half of Swedish companies plan to increase their investments in the coming 12 months, indicating cautious optimism. Brazil and the UK have the highest share of companies reporting increased investments.

– Overall, Swedish companies rank customer collaboration, cost efficiency and sales competence as the top three success factors for competitiveness. The results differ between the regions, as Swedish companies in the Americas and Western

Europe rank sales competence as their main success factor for competitiveness, while Swedish companies in APAC and

MEA+ give cost efficiency top priority.

– Around 2 out of 3 companies consider

“Brand Sweden” as beneficial to their business. The MEA+ region has the highest share of respondents stressing the importance of ‘Brand Sweden’ to their business success. ‘Brand Sweden’ is also seen as an important factor by companies in Western

Europe and APAC, but to a lesser degree in the Americas.

– Swedish companies have, in general, moderate to high satisfaction levels across the regions regarding local market conditions.

Personal safety is ranked highest closely followed by availability and quality of service providers, physical infrastructure, suppliers, and distributors. Challenges mainly occur in

Indonesia and South Africa.

– An increased share of Swedish companies abroad – currently around 40 per cent – confirm that customers care about environmental aspects of products or services in their purchasing decisions. However, some regional differences are observed, as all companies in Western Europe indicate that customers consider environmental aspects in their purchasing decisions to a greater extent while markets in the Americas, APAC and MEA+ are not unified in their answers.

– Few Swedish companies experience trade barriers, although challenges related to custom procedures, regulations, and local requirements occur in specific markets.

To summarise, Swedish companies are overall cautious optimistic going forward.