LIF, the trade association for the research-based pharmaceutical industry in Sweden, emphazises the pharmaceutical industry’s economic role in Sweden in a new report.
The report Vinst för Sverige – Den forskande läkemedelsbranschens betydelse för samhället (Profit for Sweden – the research-based pharmaceutical industry’s importance for society) was presented on June 30 during the Almedalen Week, an annual political event on the island of Gotland.
The report highlights that the research-based pharmaceutical industry is part of the Swedish social economy with great importance for export and balance of trade, tax revenues and jobs, besides its contribution to research and help to patients. When pharmaceuticals and social economy is normally debated in Sweden it generally involves costs, LIF points out, which is why the association wants to widen the perspective with the new report.
One example from the report is the industry’s contribution to Sweden’s GDP: In 2012, the pharmaceutical industry in Sweden had a revenue of SEK 66 billion and employed approximately 12 000 people. The added value in the sector that same year amounted to SEK 41 billion, which is equivalent of around 1 percent of Sweden’s collected GDP. As stated in the report, this means that each employee in the pharmaceutical industry during 2012 contributed with on average SEK 3.5 million to Sweden’s GDP. No other industry branch has an equally high added value per employee, states the authors.
