Employment
- Employment trends 2000-2006
Source: Ørestat
According to the Labour statistics based on administrative sources, employment in 2006 amounted to nearly 1.81 million persons within the region; this figure does not include the 9 500 people who commute over Öresund5. 71 percent of those employed in the region - corresponding to 1.28 million people - lived on the Danish side and 29 percent or 0.53 million lived on the Swedish side of the Öresund region.
From 2000 to 2006 employment in the Öresund region has increased by 59 000 persons or 3.4 percent - despite the economic downturn during 2001 and 2003. The downturn has affected the region as a whole to a lesser extent than the other parts of Denmark and Sweden. The economic upswing that followed from 2004 to 2007 has resulted in a sharp employment growth, high capacity utilisation and a marked drop in unemployment. The strong demand for labour has led to greater chances for employment for even marginalised groups among jobseekers (immigrants, persons with disabilities). Older persons seeking employment are also more inclined to remain on the labour market. Growth has been particularly significant for those aged 60-64 - nearly 50 000 persons or 72.3 percent in this age group were employed from 2000 to 2006. However, the number of employed persons in younger age groups has clearly dropped during this period, while other age groups show varying trends depending on the underlying demographic development(6).
- Employment by age Change 2000 - 2006
Source: Ørestat
Like population trends, employment trends also show us that the sharpest increase has occurred on the Swedish side of Öresund, where employment increased by 8.2 percent or by 40 300 persons. The Danish region reports an increase of 1.5 percent corresponding to 18 700 persons.
- Annual change of the population of working age (aged 16-64) Forecast 2008 - 2017
Source: Ørestat
On the Swedish side of the Öresund region, growth was strongest in the more densely populated areas of the west and the south. From 2000 to 2006, employment in the regional areas of north-western Skåne (with Helsingborg as the central area) rose by 9.1 percent, while the corresponding figure was 8.8 percent for south-western Skåne with Malmö as the central area. South-western Skåne (with Ystad as the central area) shows an increase of 8.1 percent for this period. In the regional part of north-eastern Skåne with Kristianstad as the central area, employment growth was clearly slower (5.2 percent). On the Danish side of Öresund, employment only increased in the areas of Copenhagen city (3.9 percent) and western/southern Zealand (3.7 percent) while employment stagnated or even fell in the other parts of the country (Bornholm -2.4 percent). In recent years the employment cycle has become more visible in the Öresund region and all regional areas can benefit from the expansive development(7).
- Employment in the Öresund region by location of residence
Source: Ørestat
