General Information

Thoroughness is of the highest importance on the Swedish market and contracts must be respected. The Swedes are very demanding in terms of product quality and deadlines and will judge offers on all of their aspects. Punctuality is of utmost importance in meetings and notification must be immediately provided in the case of any delay.

With the sense of hierarchy being much less pronounced in the Nordic countries than in the rest of Europe, take care to treat all of your contact partners equally. Stay calm and collected during negotiations and avoid any sign of excessive emotion. English is often used in business.

This market holds numerous development routes for French companies. Restricted in size, it must be considered within a Nordic context and can usefully serve as a basis for future development towards the rest of Scandinavia, Finland but also towards the Baltic States.

Means of Payment & Banking Specificities

Deadlines are scrupulously respected in Sweden and bills should be settled quickly. The Swedes are good payers and expect equally efficient services in return. The average delays in inter-company payment are short (27 days on average).

Use SWIFT payment for your international payments as well as domestic interbank payments, card payments or via mobile phone applications, the latter of which are growing very fast (via service providers such as Klarna or Swish). Cheques and cash payments have almost disappeared in Sweden.