The Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the French economy. In 2020, France saw its GDP decline by 8.2 per cent, a historic drop for France and sharper than the European average at -6.2 per cent. However, the forecasts indicate that the French GDP will grow by 6 per cent in 2021, compared to the European average of 4.8 per cent.
In order to regain strength after the pandemic, the French government has deployed a recovery plan “France Relance” of 100 billion EUR over a two-year period (2020-2022).
More than half of the Swedish companies in France look back on a profitable year 2020, despite the pandemic. As regards to the financial predictions for the upcoming 12 months, the vast majority of the companies expect that the turnover in their industry is going to increase and 81 per cent of Swedish businesses established in France are planning to maintain or increase their investments.
The French has a very positive view of Sweden and strongly associate the country with high quality in terms of services, management, goods, technical know-how, innovation and sustainability. The survey distinctly confirms that the brand image of Sweden contributes to Swedish businesses.
Swedish companies operating in France find that their customer base is driven by sustainability concerns. As many as 72 per cent of the respondents reported that their customers consider environmental aspects of a product or service in their purchasing decision.
Please download the report to fully overview the results with a detailed analysis.
ABOUT THE SURVEY
The Business Climate Survey is a study authored by Team Sweden in order outline the main opportunities and challenges facing Swedish companies in their respective markets abroad.
This year, the survey was sent out to a select sample of 316 local executives representing Swedish companies in France, 111 of which provided answers. The answers were collected between March 17 and April 26, 2021.
