Sweden's main comparative advantage is the presence of technologically advanced clusters of companies in its industry and service sectors.  This applies to many high-tech fields, including telecommunications, software and hardware technology, aerospace and transportation, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and biotechnology.  Sweden also enjoys a strong position in the automotive and electrical equipment industries. 
 
IT Strengths and Competitive Advantages  

Sweden is one of the world’s leading countries in IT and telecommunications.  Especially strong positions have been established in mobile telephony, but Swedish companies are also in the forefront in software development for enterprise resource planning, data security, the Internet, Electronic Commerce and other new media. 

Sweden has a total of about 21,000 companies and some 175,000 employees in telecommunications, hardware production, services and software development, and new media. These fields employ five percent of the nation’s total workforce, but their share of GDP and exports are significantly higher. Only Japan can show higher exports and imports of high technology than Sweden. 

The Stockholm Stock Exchange boasts the largest share of IT, telecom, and new media companies in Europe.  These represent 25 % of the total number of listed companies at the Stockholm Stock Exchange.  During 1996 and 1997 more than 30 % of initial public offerings in Sweden were made by IT companies. (Source: Sweden confirms its leading position in IT, telecom and new media)

Telecommunications 

Swedish companies have secured a lead position in mobile telephony, one of the most expansive IT fields. Ericsson has been a driving force in the development of highly advanced telecom hardware, but Sweden holds more than 100 other thriving companies in the mobile phone industry, many of them spin-offs from Ericsson.  Telia AB, the former PTT was one of the first PTT's in Europe to deregulate and as a result, the telcom market in Sweden has become innovative and  expansive.

Internet  

CNN Interactive indicated that it selected Sweden as the location of its first European venture because its people have a strong interest in the Internet and the country has a high concentration of personal computers. These are the two major factors that have allowed Sweden to establish a lead in Internet use and the development of WWW technology.

Research and Development  

Sweden has, according to OECD criteria, one of the best innovation climates in Europe. No other country, including the U.S. and Japan, invests more in research and development than Sweden. The government is highly supportive of R&D in the private sector and the country fosters this development through national science parks located throughout the country.

The software industry has expanded sharply over the last few years and is now one of the fastest-growing sectors within IT, with sales of software increasing 60 percent a year.  

International Call Centers 

Sweden has one of the most deregulated markets for telecom in the world, and tariffs are among the very lowest in Europe. In addition, the availability of educated, bi-lingual labor is very high in Sweden.  For these reasons, call centers are increasingly locating in Sweden to serve all of Scandinavia and Northern and Eastern Europe. 

Sweden offers vast call center experience, an abundant and multilingual labor pool, and a highly educated work force. Over 80,000 people are employed in the country's call centers, by compaines such as; American Express, Avis, DHL, Ford, Hertz, and Microsoft. (Source: Invest in Sweden Agency)