Linköping by the numbers
Linköping has a broad and balanced scope of industries, with just the right mix of manufacturing, services, trade and public sector. The numbers tell their own story. But first, a little history.
Thanks to its fertile soil, Linköping has been an entrepreneurial place in constant development ever since people first settled here. It didn’t take long for Linköping to become a trading centre. The city began to take shape: the church was built, teaching centres were established and the amount of people who found their way here increased rapidly
At the start of the 1900s, the Uggla brothers founded the company ASJ, which later became the security and defence group, Saab. Since then things have moved quickly, and following the establishment of Linköping University in 1975, growth has accelerated even further.
Linköping is still a trading centre to this day, and is home to cutting-edge technology, research and development for a better tomorrow. Our location ranks as number two in Sweden for communications and transport, together with neighbouring Norrköping. Here you’ll find a harbour, several airports, the rail mainline and the E4 motorway. In short, a perfect location to relocate nearly any kind of industry. Today more than ever.
- Inhabitants: 165,527 (2021), Sweden's fifth largest municipality
- Young population: Low average age – 39.5 years, close to two years below the national average.
- Area: 1428 km2 of which 140 km2 is watercourse
- Communications: Our region is classified as one of the country's foremost in terms of communications and transport. Linköping City Airport, mainline railway, E4 and Port of Norrköping.
- Primary and secondary schools: A wide range of municipal and private schools.
- Linköping University: One of Sweden's largest higher education institutions with just over 36,000 students
- Educational attainment rating: 34.3 percent. Swedish average is 27.6 percent.
- University Hospital: Highly specialised care and community care in the heart of the city.
- Shopping: Thriving commerce within and outside the city centre. Tornby is Östergötland's largest, and also one of Sweden's largest, shopping centres.
- Rich cultural and leisure life: Linköping is a bustling city, with concerts, sports at elite-level, theatres, museums, art and much more.
The business basics
Number of employees
Linköping is a city characterised by small-scale entrepreneurship, like much of Sweden. The vast majority of companies have zero employees, which means that only the owner is active. The city has seven private companies and as many public employers that have more than 500 employees, of which Saab and Linköping Municipality are the largest.
Largest private employers: Saab, Attendo, Skill, Combitech, Ericsson, Arriver Software, HK Scan, Arla, Veoneer, Verisure, Länsförsäkringar Östgöta.
Public employers: Linköping Municipality, Region Östergötland, Linköping University, the Swedish Armed Forces, the Police Authority, Samhall, Tekniska verken, The County Administrative Board of Östergötland, Swedish Defence Research Agency, Postnord.
Types of companies
Linköping has about 16,400 registered companies, excluding non-profit associations, foundations and housing cooperatives. We estimate that about 11,700 of these are active, and 6700 of these are limited companies. By active we mean companies that:
- Are registered to do business (F skatt)
- Are registered for VAT
- Have a turnover
In addition, there are some whose businesses are not subject to VAT, but who are registered as employers. These numbers were last updated on January 25th 2023.
Balance between sectors
Our broad and balanced scope of industries can only be described as ideal for a modern city. This makes us more resilient towards cyclical fluctuations and changing market conditions than municipalities that are dependent on a few dominant industries.
Sectoral growth and shrinkage
A high proportion (68%) of employees are within industries which are defined as future industries, eg, IT, environmental technology, medical technology and tourism. Just five per cent work in declining sectors.
Linköping University
Linköping University (LiU) is ranked as one of the world's leading universities and has about 36,000 students and 4,000 employees.