the Horse in Sweden – more important than you think

Over 200 exhibitors
and almost 80 000
visitors come to Eurohorse
in Gothenburg,
the country’s largest
horse fair.
The ripple effect from the horse industry’s turnover is
an estimated SEK 26 billion. This means that for every
crown of turnover generated within the horse industry,
a corresponding amount is turned over in the rest of
society.
Society has gained up to 18 000 full-time jobs via
this ripple effect. It can thus be maintained that society
in general benefits by one whole year of employment for
every tenth horse in the land. Wagering on horses has a
particularly positive effect on the employment statistics
as many jobs are created through the return of money
from gambling back to the sport’s most active members.
Seen from this perspective, every one of ATG’s employees
represents occupation for up to 14 other people.
The horse industry’s contribution to
Sweden’s GNP A further way of gauging the horse
industry’s economic importance is by looking at its
contribution to the country’s GNP, that is the combined
value of goods and services produced in the country,
most often calculated on a yearly basis. The horse industry
contributes SEK 8 billion to Sweden’s GNP, identical
in size to the island of Gotland’s contribution.
A business’ productivity can be calculated through
taking the sales value of all their goods and services and
subtracting the cost of their base materials to reach an
output value. Every person employed within the horse
industry generates an output value amounting to SEK
480 tkr per year. Corresponding figures for the country’s
agricultural and manufacturing sectors are SEK 400 respective
612 billion per year. Employees within the horse
industry thus contribute to the country’s GNP on a level
somewhere between employees within the agriculture
and the manufacturing industries.
The horse’s need for fodder, straw and pastures helps maintain an
open landscape as well as bringing sizeable revenue to agriculture.
The horse in Sweden – more important than you think 21