Advanced industries in Gothenburg

Gothenburg’s county is the industrial heart of Sweden and a driving force for the country’s exports and green transition. Here you’ll find a fifth of the nation’s manufacturing workforce, large-scale refineries and biorefineries, and Scandinavia’s largest container port. This strong manufacturing base is supported by a fast-growing knowledge-intensive services sector.

160,000

Employees in manufacturing, including business-related services, in Gothenburg’s county (Region Västra Götaland, 2024)
35 %

of Sweden's private sector R&D investments are made in Gothenburg's county (Statistics Sweden, 2023)
98 %

The Swedish energy grid is 98% carbon-free (Fossilfrit Sverige, 2025)

A Nordic hub for industry and innovation

As the hometown of companies like SKF and Volvo, Gothenburg has a long industrial heritage. Today the city, and the surrounding region, is a diversified industrial hub with a firm commitment to innovation and reducing climate impact. A region powered by collaboration between private, public and academia, with a high export intensity.

The automotive and process industries are among the largest by employees and goods exports, while the battery and electrification industries are growing rapidly.

Leading companies with major operations in the region include SKF, Stena, Volvo, Volvo Cars, Nouryon, GKN Aerospace, Preem, ST1, Borealis, Perstorp, Powercell and Polestar.

Discover our updated trend report mobility and transportation trends 2025

Many industrial companies in the Gothenburg region have ambitious climate goals and are developing the products, services, and processes of tomorrow. This creates ripple effects across value chains and opens up opportunities for forward-thinking businesses.

- Hans Larsson, investment advisor for green tech and advanced industry, Business Region Göteborg

A sample of the investments shaping West Sweden’s industrial sector

Preem has large scale projects in the region, including the repurposing of its Lysekil facility, a EUR 500 million investment, to produce renewable aviation fuel.
GKN Aerospace is investing GBP 50 million (approx. SEK 650 million) in a production centre in Trollhättan to scale up its additive fabrication technology.
Volvo Cars is investing SEK 10 billion in modernising and lowering the climate emissions of its products and processes at its manufacturing facilities in Torslanda, Gothenburg, which include for example, a pressing plant, body plant, battery assembly factory, paint shop and final assembly plant.
The Volvo Group and Volvo Cars, who are both committed to electrification, are investing in large-scale battery production facilities in Mariestad and Gothenburg, respectively.
Software company Zenseact and Volvo Cars are setting up one of the largest data centres in the Nordics in Gothenburg.
During 2024, forest company SCA and energy company ST1 inaugurated a joint-owned biorefinery in Gothenburg. The facility has the capacity to produce 200,000 tonnes of renewable fuel, from tall oil from SCA’s pulp mills.
During 2023, Stena Recycling opened one of Europe’s first industry scale battery recycling facilities in Halmstad, 140 km south of Gothenburg. Using an advanced process, the company can recycle 95% of an electric vehicle battery.

Hans Larsson, investment advisor for green transition

Considering investing in Gothenburg’s industrial sector?

Hans Larsson and our team of investment advisors can provide you with insights, advice, practical support, and introductions to key stakeholders - to help you capture investment opportunities and elevate your business in Gothenburg. Our investment advisory services are free of charge and tailored to your needs.

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Gothenburg - a centre for manufacturing

The manufacturing sector in the Gothenburg region directly employs 63,000 people or 11% of the total workforce. The automotive industry is largest by number of employees.

Automotive industry - 26,260 employees
Chemical industry – 5,200 employees
Advanced industry, excluding automotive and chemicals – 14,200 employees
Other industry – 16,960 employees

Source: Statistics Sweden, 2023

Gothenburg - an export-intensive region

Companies in the Gothenburg region have a high export intensity, accounting for 17% of Sweden's total export value. Key export markets include USA, Germany, Norway, UK and China. The largest product groups by export value are:

Motor vehicles and other transport equipment – SEK 168bn
Other machines and manufactured goods – SEK 44bn
Computers, electronics and optical products – SEK 32bn
Chemicals, pharmaceuticals, rubber and plastics – SEK 30bn

Home to Sweden’s largest chemical cluster

Stenungsund, about 45 km north of Gothenburg, boasts Sweden’s largest chemical cluster. The companies here are export intensive and directly employ around 2,500 people. Among the companies are Nouryon and Perstorp, which supply specialty and basic chemicals to a wide range of industries, including automotive, construction, pharmaceuticals and agriculture. There are also two plastics producers: INEOS Inovyn, which produces PVC among other products, and Borealis, which manufactures ethene and propene. Adesso BioProducts produces biodiesel.

Like elsewhere in the region, the companies in Stenungsund are actively working to decarbonize their products and processes and have announced investment plans worth SEK 10 billion (approx. EUR 1 billion). The aim is to reduce carbon emissions in the value chain by one million tonnes per year.

60

Active testbeds in the Gothenburg region
70 %

Of Scandinavia´s industry in within 500 km of Gothenburg
0

Gothenburg aims to have a near-zero climate footprint by 2030

Did you know this about Gothenburg?

Demand for electricity is surging

In Västra Götaland, Gothenburg’s county, demand for electricity is expected to climb from 22 TWh in 2025 to 57 TWh in 2045, according to Region Västra Götaland. The growth will be driven primarily by industry, as well as the electrification of transport.

Towards a fossil-independent industrial sector

The West Swedish initiative Climate-leading Process Industry is helping accelerate the industrial sectors green transition. The initiative finances projects and facilitates collaborations and knowledge dissemination. Hosted by Lindholmen Science Park, it involves the member organisations of the West Swedish Chemicals and Materials Cluster, including private and public companies and Chalmers University of Technology.

Raising the bar for ports around the world

The Port of Gothenburg plans to reduce carbon emissions by 70% by 2030 including emissions from vessels sailing in and out of the port traffic area. Among other things, it is making large investments in infrastructure, electrification, digitization and energy transition. Projects include deepening fairways to receive the largest vessels, shoreside power for tankers and a technically advanced quay facility, Coastal quay 2.0.

A smart solution for cooling industry

Purified wastewater from Gothenburg residents will soon be used to, among other things, cool the production process for electric car batteries in Novo Energy’s new gigafactory. The heated water from the factory will then be used to heat homes and offices in the region. The new energy efficient and sustainable solution was created through a collaboration between the city’s water, energy and city planning offices, as well as the public companies that manage water and wastewater, electricity and wastewater treatment.

Eliminating greenhouse emissions from manufacturing

Based at Lindholmen Science Park, Mission 0 House brings together scientists and engineers from academia and industry to tackle a critical challenge: eliminating greenhouse gas emissions from material and product manufacturing. The collaborative initiative was started by Polestar and involves several other leading companies, including SSAB, Sekab, SKF, Stora Enso and Volvo Cars, and five Swedish colleges and universities.

A new battery education hub is further strengthening skills provision

Battery Centre Gothenburg is a new state-of the art education hub designed to further strengthen the region’s skills provision for the transitioning automotive and electrification industries. It is publicly run, but actively involves industrial partners, including Volvo, Novo Energy, Siemens, ABB, as well as Chalmers University of Technology and RISE Research Institutes of Sweden. Battery Centre Gothenburg is one of many private-public initiatives that support long-term skills provision in the Gothenburg region

Facts about Sweden’s industrial sector

Sweden ranks among the top globally for the use of industrial robots.
The Swedish energy grid is 98% carbon-free, with over 60% derived from renewable sources.
Sweden aims to have net zero greenhouse emissions by 2045 at the latest.

Support and resources

Here are some examples of the support and resources available in our industrial ecosystem:

Lindholmen Science Park

Jointly owned by Chalmers University of Technology, the City of Gothenburg and the business community, the science park acts as a platform for cross-disciplinary and cross-industry projects, connecting organisations in the private and public sectors and academia. It also hosts several of Sweden’s leading development projects within mobility, media and AI.

Lindholmen Science Park

Gothenburg Technical College (Göteborg Tekniska College - GTC)

A company jointly owned by Volvo Group, Volvo Cars and the City of Gothenburg. It provides education and training for young students and adults with aim of providing future skills provision for the manufacturing sector in western Sweden.

Gothenburg Technical College

Port of Gothenburg

Scandinavia’s largest container port, which handles 20% of Sweden’s foreign trade and 57% of its container traffic. It offers direct services to ports across the world and has strong rail links to and from the whole of Sweden and Norway.

Port of Gothenburg

Chalmers University of Technology

Chalmers is one Europe’s top technology universities and one of the world's best industry collaborators (around 16% of its scientific papers are co-published with industry). It carries out education and advanced research in areas including industry and production, energy, materials science and transport.

Chalmers University of Technology

Chalmers Industriteknik

A research and development organisation that promotes innovation for a sustainable society. It works closely with researchers, academia, and industry, to create new technological solutions, environmentally friendly materials, and circular business models that bring tangible benefits to society.

Chalmers Industriteknik

RISE Research Institutes of Sweden

RISE is an independent, state-owned research institute, headquartered in Gothenburg. It offers unique expertise and over 130 testbeds and demonstration environments.

RISE Research Institutes of Sweden

Hållbar kemi (Sustainable chemicals industry)

Hållbar Kemi is a collaborative organisation between chemical companies in Stenungsund. It works to create opportunities and conditions for the chemical industry to transition to climate neutrality.

Hållbar kemi (Sustainable chemicals industry)

EIT Manufacturing

The European innovation community for manufacturing. The North Region, which serves nine countries including Sweden, Denmark, Norway and the UK, has its office at Lindholmen Science Park in Gothenburg. It connects the North regional ecosystem to know-how, investment and infrastructure across Europe, with aim of accelerating the commercialisation of scientific advancement.

EIT Manufacturing

Stena Industry Innovation Lab

An open hub for entrepreneurs and product developers that offers state-of-the-art facilities to demonstrate and develop digital production systems. It is based at Chalmers Institution for Industry and Material Sciences.

Stena Industry Innovation Lab

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