Industrial trends
Industrial trends
In the wake of the international financial crisis that broke out in 2008, growth in the Öresund region also entered a much weaker phase. Following several bleak years at the start of the 2000s, the Öresund region experienced a tremendous economic boom between 2003 and 2006 on both the Danish and Swedish sides of the region. During 2006 a clear slowdown in the economy occurred especially on the Danish side of the sound. This was due to both a decreasing demand and an increasing shortage of labour that set limits on economic growth. The international economic downturn in 2008 was deep and in 2009 further deepened the recession. However, several economic forecasts predict that the global economy will slowly recover during 2010. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the economic situation is very difficult to assess, and even if some experts expect a weak upturn after 2010, growth will probably be held back in several countries due to weak trends on the housing market, unemployment that remains at a high level, and lower levels of investment.
- GDP growth in Denmark and Sweden 2008 to 2010 (Forecast from 2009). Annual percentage of GDP growth at market prices
Sources: Ministry of Finance, Økonomisk Redegørelse (December 2009) and National Institute of Economic Research, Konjunkturläget (December 2009)
There are still no regional statistics on economic development in the Öresund region after 2007, but from a historical perspective, economic growth in the Öresund region has relatively high covariance with the national development in Denmark and Sweden. This is why we can find a degree of support in national forecasts to predict regional development in the Öresund region. The national forecasts that were presented in the beginning of 2009 were very bleak, but the forecasts made during the autumn/winter of 2009 hint towards cautious optimism. The graph below presents the forecasts presented in December 2009 by the Ministry of Finance in Denmark and the National Institute of Economic Research in Sweden. In both countries GDP is assumed to begin to grow in 2010. Growth in Sweden is predicted to lie at 2.7 percent, while Danish growth is expected to be around 1.3 percent.
