Helsingborg’s business landscape
Helsingborg has a diverse and resilient business community, spanning everything from small, locally rooted companies to high-growth firms and global corporations. It is Sweden’s tenth-largest labour market, with around 80,000 employees across approximately 15,500 companies, of which 5,500 have employees. The private sector accounts for 74% of employment—above the national average.
Companies generate a combined annual turnover of SEK 180 billion. Trade and logistics account for more than half of this, while manufacturing and industry form the second-largest sector, with close to SEK 18 billion in turnover. The built environment sector—including construction and real estate—generates more than SEK 22 billion and plays a key role in the city’s long-term development.
Around 1,000 new companies are established each year, making Helsingborg one of Sweden’s most entrepreneurial cities. More than three quarters remain active locally after five years. Businesses span 615 industries—around 75% of all sectors in Sweden—creating a broad and diversified economic base. Together with 1,800 exporting companies and 700 foreign-owned businesses, this diversity supports resilience, competitiveness and access to capital.
Helsingborg’s key sectors include logistics and trade, visitor economy, tech and food, and life science, alongside emerging areas such as civil defence and infrastructure resilience.
Entrepreneurship, innovation and collaboration
Innovation in Helsingborg is not a standalone initiative—it is embedded in how the city develops. With a long tradition of entrepreneurship, more than 1,000 new businesses are launched each year, and 76% remain active after five years.
Innovation and entrepreneurship are used to address real-world challenges through testbeds, data-driven development and new business models in live environments. It is through collaboration between academia, industry and the city that Helsingborg’s innovation capacity takes shape.
A strong support system for growth
Helsingborg offers a well-developed support system for businesses at every stage. Regional and international partnerships provide access to larger markets, broader expertise and stronger innovation environments.
For startups and early-stage companies, local actors such as HETCH and E-commerce Park offer business advice, investor networks, test environments and strong communities—closely aligned with the city’s strengths in tech and e-commerce. Other key organisations include Ung Företagsamhet and Nyföretagarcentrum.
As companies grow, organisations such as Tillväxt Helsingborg, IUC Syd and Region Skåne provide strategic support, networks and recruitment assistance. For international expansion, Exportcenter Syd acts as a single entry point, connecting businesses to regional, national and European networks, including EU funding.
Innovation in a wider context
Helsingborg’s innovation capacity is strengthened by its location in one of Europe’s most innovative regions. Skåne is home to strong clusters such as Medicon Valley Alliance, Mobile Heights, Packbridge and Sustainable Business Hub, where collaboration between business, academia and the public sector drives growth and international competitiveness.
Sweden consistently ranks among the world’s most innovative countries. In the Global Innovation Index (2025), Sweden ranked second out of 139 countries, with strong performance in patents, high-tech exports and innovation outputs.
For businesses, this means access to a broader ecosystem of research, capital and international collaboration—combined with Helsingborg’s ability to move quickly from idea to scale.
Transition as a business opportunity
Helsingborg’s transition to climate neutrality by 2030 is creating new markets and business opportunities. As energy, transport and resource systems evolve, demand is growing for new solutions in industry, logistics, construction, circular flows and energy systems.
The city provides an environment where solutions can be developed, tested and scaled in collaboration with academia, industry and the public sector. Helsingborg is one of 112 EU Mission Cities working towards climate neutrality, giving companies access to a real-world test environment where investments, technologies and business models can be validated without carrying the full risk alone.
Testbeds and pilot environments such as RecoLab and RecoPark enable practical development of circular solutions, resource recovery and new technologies. EU-funded projects such as HYDROSYM-2030 and CoBuild NetZero explore industrial transformation, skills development and climate-smart construction.
Collaborative initiatives such as the Helsingborg Declaration and the Climate Agreement bring companies together to identify new business opportunities and accelerate the green transition. The city’s work is also connected to national and European platforms such as Climate City Capital Hub and Viable Cities, providing access to knowledge, networks and funding.
Helsingborg has been awarded the EU Mission Label, recognising its credible and investable pathway to climate neutrality by 2030.
For businesses, this creates new opportunities—for example, Öresundskraft’s investment in carbon capture (CCS), enabling climate-neutral district heating and negative emissions certificates, and Nordion Energi’s transition to a fully renewable gas network by 2030.
Through initiatives such as Viable Cities and EU platforms like NetZeroCities, companies in Helsingborg gain access to testbeds across 112 cities, joint procurement opportunities and EU funding programmes such as Horizon Europe and the Innovation Fund. Solutions developed here can scale across Europe’s Mission Cities, opening up significant market potential.