Business Sweden: How Swedish exporters are impacted by the coronavirus outbreak

By Lena Sellgren, Chief Economist Stockholm, Business Sweden 

Following the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan in December 2019, the immediate effects were primarily felt in the Hubei province of China as production came to a standstill. Since then, things have changed dramatically.

As the virus continued to spread rapidly to all but one continent, the pressures on production, sales and supply chains have been pushed to the limit. Sweden’s economy is heavily reliant on its export companies which account for 50 per cent of the nation’s GDP.

Our latest survey among Swedish exporters, with a goods export value exceeding SEK 150 million, confirms that approximately 80 per cent of companies are forecasting moderate to severe negative impacts on sales. At the same time, two-thirds of the companies already have an action plan in place to counteract the disruption of Covid-19 and the public health emergency.

The survey was conducted through interviews with CEOs, Sales Managers and Marketing Directors at a total of 266 companies between March 11-20, 2020. This report presents an overview of the results.

Please read full report on: https://www.business-sweden.com/globalassets/insights/reports/trend/tough-action-in-the-time-of-corona.pdf