Malmö has experienced the strongest employment growth among Sweden's three largest cities since the pandemic, according to new statistics from Statistics Sweden (SCB) released on March 9, 2026. Between 2020 and 2025, the number of jobs in Malmö's business sector increased by over 12 percent, representing more than 15,000 new positions. This growth rate exceeds that of both Stockholm and Gothenburg during the same period.
The job growth in Malmö is broad-based and spans multiple sectors of the economy. Manufacturing employment in the city increased by over 12 percent, while industrial employment declined slightly in both Gothenburg and Stockholm. According to the data, Malmö has long served as an employment and growth engine for the entire region, with over half of all new jobs in Skåne created in Malmö.
The city's Growth Commission previously noted that Malmö had significantly higher employment growth in the business sector than Stockholm and Gothenburg between 2000 and 2020. The new statistics indicate this trend has continued and strengthened further after 2020. The report suggests that if Sweden's entire business sector had grown at Malmö's pace over the past six years, the country would have nearly 200,000 more jobs today.