Expanding your business to Sweden

Gateway to the Nordic cybersecurity market

The Swedish market in numbers

The Netherlands and Sweden share a similar business culture, making it relatively easy for Dutch companies to do business in Sweden. The Swedish population is innovation savvy and digitally skilled. Stockholm has one of the fastest-growing tech startup scenes in the world, producing startups and breeding unicorns like Skype, Spotify and Klarna.

10.6 mln

Population

1,8%

GDP growth

#4 out of 116

countries in global English proficiency

95,4%

Internet penetration

#10

For ease of doing business (World Bank)

How Sweden ranks

4th place

on Network Readiness Index Sweden, 2024

2nd worldwide

on Global Innovation Index (WIPO 2024)

5th globally

on digital competitiveness (IMD world digital competitiveness ranking)

Cybersecurity opportunities in Sweden in a snapshot

Sweden is a frontrunner in digitalization, both in the public sector and in the core industries. However, this digital transformation comes with risks for more cyber threats, therefore requiring a proactive approach to cybersecurity. The National Cybersecurity Index demonstrates that a large proportion of companies haven’t taken the necessary countermeasures to secure their technologies. The fast digitalization thus creates a security gap that needs to be bridged as soon as possible.

A large digital solutions sector
The digital sector accounts for +/-20% of Sweden’s GDP, among the highest shares in the world.

Existing collaborations
Sweden and the Netherlands are both EU members and have similar laws on cybersecurity. Existing collaborations in European cybersecurity organizations, such as the ENISA and NECC provides that business collaborations are fostered.

Growing security sector
The security sector generated €150 mln. revenue in 2020 and is expected to grow at 13,7% annually (Statista). The Sweden Cybersecurity market was valued at EUR 1,380.5 million in 2023. It is expected to register a CAGR of 8.82% over the forecasted period (2024-2029), reaching EUR 2,262.9 million by 2029.

High urgency for security solutions
80% of (medium to large size) Swedish organizations exposed to cyber incidents in 2020. (Truesec.com)

Investment-readiness
52% of Swedish security executives plan to increase investment in cybersecurity. (trade.gov)

Government expenditures
Swedish public investments in signals intelligence and the cyber domain was €510 mln. in 2018 and continues to grow, according to the Comprehensive cybersecurity action plan 2019-2022.

Cybersecurity Ecosystem in Sweden

Sweden is home to a strong and innovative cybersecurity ecosystem, with numerous reputable companies offering advanced solutions in areas such as security consulting, risk management, network protection and encryption. These firms leverage cutting-edge technologies and highly skilled talent to safeguard both individuals and organizations from evolving cyber threats.

In addition to its homegrown expertise, Sweden also hosts a number of Dutch cybersecurity companies, highlighting the close collaboration and shared ambition between our countries in strengthening digital resilience.

Below, you’ll find some of our key network partners active in the Swedish cybersecurity landscape.

Some relevant statistics

Share attacked with ransomeware

According to a survey by Sophos, some 60% of Swedish organizations that participated were hit with ransomware attacks in 2019, and a majority paid to get their information back, mainly due to insufficient cyber insurance.

Biggest threat

45% of Swedish organisations see cloud account compromise as the biggest threat for the coming years (Statista 2020). Other perceived threats are business e-mail compromise, phishing and nation-state attacks.

Market demand

The finance and banking sector accounts for almost 30% of the cybersecurity market share by end user. Government, defense and public sector accounts for nearly 20% and IT and Telecommunications for roughly 16%. (MarkWide Research, 2023)

Majority of solutions

Over half of the total market value of cybersecurity, almost SEK 6 bln., consists of consultancy services and project assignments.

Biggest consequences

51% of businesses in Sweden cited brand and reputation damage as the biggest consequence of a cyber attack – followed by data breaches and business and operational disruption.

Biggest risk

When quizzed about the biggest risks to their organisation, Swedish CSOs/ CISOs cited outdated or insufficient cybersecurity solutions and technology (49%), followed by lack of proper access controls/processes and human error and lack of security awareness