Swedish mining industry

The mining industry – a great job creator

The mining industry is a large employer. Both directly and indirectly. Through the economic activity thanks to the mining industry’s investments, a significant amount of jobs are created locally through the companies’ purchases of services and materials.

At the end of 2020, approximately 7,400 * people were employed at Sweden’s metal mines and approximately 750 people in industrial mineral companies. In addition to direct jobs, a significant number of jobs are created locally.

Each job in the mining industry creates an additional 1.8 ** indirect jobs at the subcontractor level. Together, this in turn creates jobs in industries that are not directly linked to the mines, such as grocery stores, restaurants, cultural and sports life, which are needed in living communities.

The mining industry also works purposefully to increase gender equality. From 2004 to 2020, women have increased from 5% to 18% among blue-collar workers. In total, 22% of those working in the industry are women.

In the autumn of 2020, LKAB presented a new strategy that entails a new world standard for mining and carbon dioxide-free ore processing. The investment could be the largest industrial investment in Swedish history – about SEK 400 billion over 20 years. In addition, there are massive investments in the expansion of renewable electricity and hydrogen to enable the conversion. Thousands of new jobs will be created in Malmfälten and Norrbotten, during the rebuilding and new construction of facilities for more than 20 years and as part of the expanded business, which secures future jobs.

The mining companies also pay large sums of tax both to the Treasury and the municipalities where they operate. The total tax revenue generated from Svemin’s member companies in 2019 can finance over 7,700 police officers, which is approximately one third of all police officers in Sweden by 2020 ***, or approximately 37,600 compulsory school places.

* SGU
** Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, 2017
*** Polisen