Stockholm topped the European rankings and was sixth in the world behind five US regions headed by San José (home to Silicon Valley).

West Sweden, centered on Göteborg, also performed strongly and was ranked as one of five European regions in the world top 20 for knowledge competitiveness.

The Center for International Competitiveness said “economically vibrant" Stockholm had moved up two places from the previous rankings in 2005.

“The improvement has been based on gains across a range of indicators — in particular business R&D spending, biotechnology and chemical sector employment, and higher education spending," the center said.

West Sweden surged from 37th in the 2005 rankings to 16th worldwide and third in Europe behind Stockholm and Iceland.

The report singled out Sweden´s strength in business R&D as a key factor behind the country´s success in nurturing knowledge capital.
“The Swedish regions perform particularly well, with West Sweden and Stockholm holding the first places by some distance, as well as two other Swedish regions [South Sweden and East-Central Sweden] making the top 15," the report authors said.

Source: Invest In Sweden Agency