Sweden most creative country in Europe & top talent hotspot

Country also rated most attractive place to live and work

Los Angeles, CA, June 21, 2005 – A new book titled, “The Flight of the Creative Class,” states that Sweden is the most creative country in Europe and is positioned to attract the top talent in the important and emerging creative class – which is defined as scientists, designers, writers, IT nerds, and other hard-working brains.  The book compiled an index to measure the kinds of creativity most useful to business – talent, technology and tolerance, and found Sweden to be the number one spot in Europe and the World.  This Creative Class will be the source of growth in the world’s knowledge economy.  

“Creativity, innovation, and technical competence are strong Swedish cultural traits,” stated Erik Enroth, Executive Director, Invest in Sweden Agency, U.S.A.  “These positive attributes are highly valued in potential employees and are among the top reasons why over twelve hundred U.S. companies have chosen to establish a European operation in Sweden.”

Sweden - top talent magnet
According to the book, “The Flight of the Creative Class,” by prominent U.S. economist, Professor Richard Florida of George Mason University, Sweden is ranked as having the best creativity in Europe for business and is tipped to become a talent magnet for the world’s most purposeful workers. The book compiled an index to measure the kind of creativity most useful to business – talent, technology and tolerance – and found Sweden to be the number one spot in Europe and the world.

The book’s index suggests Scandinavia is by far the most creative region in the world. Along with Sweden, all the four other Nordic countries make the top ten.  Florida believes the creative class – which he defines as scientists, designers, writers, IT nerds and other hard-working brains – are the source of growth in our knowledge society. He suggests global competition will see a growing tug-of-war between countries and regions to attract and retain members of the creative class.

The talent index was compiled using three equally weighted parameters: talent, technology and tolerance.  The top ten countries, in descending order, are: Sweden, Japan, Finland, the US, Switzerland, Denmark, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway and Germany.

Sweden best place to live & work
A new international report of the leading nation brands states that people see Sweden as the best place to live and work, the Swedish people as the world’s most hospitable, and the Swedish Government as the most trustworthy administration in the world.  The report also showed that Sweden was seen as the second most attractive place to invest in, behind the U.S., and the second most attractive tourist destination after Italy. 

The findings were made in the Anholt-GMI Nation Brands Index, a survey of 10,000 consumers in ten countries who were asked for their impressions of the US, UK, China, Italy, Germany, South Korea, Russia, Turkey and Sweden. The survey measured people’s perceptions of nations’ governance, business, exports, people, culture and tourism. In the overall standings, the UK came second followed by Italy and the US and Germany.

Additional world leading facts about Sweden
• Stockholm most innovative EU city  – A recent report named Stockholm as Europe’s leading center for innovation and also the fastest growing of 23 major cities on the continent. Urban Renaissance Characteristics of EU Non-Capital Cities, Draft Report; Financial Times
• Knowledge economy leader - According to Robert Huggins Associates, an economic think-tank based in Cardiff, UK, Sweden will be the driver of Europe’s knowledge economy and enjoy higher per-capita economic growth than other European nations over the coming decade.
• IDC ranked Sweden the #1 or #2 Information Society Worldwide for six consecutive years. After four consecutive years as the world’s top IT nation, Sweden was edged out of first place by less than one percent this year by its fellow Scandinavian neighbor Denmark, according to the 2004 IDC Information Society Index (ISI). IDC measured the top 53 countries worldwide and ranked them according to each nation’s ability to access and utilize information and information technology in the areas of: Computers, Internet, Telecoms, and Social.
• Highly educated workforce. Swedes have a higher proportion of secondary school graduates than neighboring Nordic countries and are also 5-10 times more likely to be multi-lingual. Nearly all call center managers receive university training in logistics.