Ana M. López
Research expert covering travel, tourism and hospitality
Restaurant industry in Sweden - Statistics & Facts
The net revenue of the Swedish restaurant industry increased simultaneously with its employee numbers over the past years. As of 2017, the restaurant, catering and bar industry in the country generated a net revenue of approximately 111 billion Swedish kronor. At the same time, Swedish restaurants had around 103 thousand employees. In the year that followed, lunch and evening restaurants reported the highest revenue by far, ahead of entertainment restaurants, pubs and bars, as well as fast food/ take away restaurants. Most of the revenue was reported in the capital region of Stockholm, while it was lowest in Sweden’s least populated region – the Northern region.
According to a survey from 2018, Swedes seemed to like Italian restaurants best. Eating out in restaurants serving Thai, Greek and Mexican food was also very popular. In general, more consumers preferred going out to restaurants for lunch than for dinner. For dinner, take away was more common.
Among the quick service restaurants (QSR), the coffeehouse chain Espresso House and the fast food restaurant Max Burgers are well known in the Scandinavian country.
Espresso House Sweden was founded in 1996 and is based in Stockholm. The company offers coffee, warm and cold drinks, as well as hot and cold food/ bakery products. In the period from 2014 to 2018, profit decreased overall from roughly 50 million Swedish kronor to losses of almost five million Swedish kronor.
Max Burgers was founded in 1968 and is based in Luleå. The fast food cooperation offers mainly burger meals and is one of McDonalds' biggest competitors in the country. Its profit grew generally in recent years, amounting to 386 million Swedish kronor in 2018.
Regarding salaries within the Swedish restaurant industry, the majority of professional chefs earned 24,000 to 25,999 Swedish kronor monthly. By comparison, most bartenders had a lower income, from 20,000 to 21,999 Swedish kronor.
According to a survey from 2018, Swedes seemed to like Italian restaurants best. Eating out in restaurants serving Thai, Greek and Mexican food was also very popular. In general, more consumers preferred going out to restaurants for lunch than for dinner. For dinner, take away was more common.
Among the quick service restaurants (QSR), the coffeehouse chain Espresso House and the fast food restaurant Max Burgers are well known in the Scandinavian country.
Espresso House Sweden was founded in 1996 and is based in Stockholm. The company offers coffee, warm and cold drinks, as well as hot and cold food/ bakery products. In the period from 2014 to 2018, profit decreased overall from roughly 50 million Swedish kronor to losses of almost five million Swedish kronor.
Max Burgers was founded in 1968 and is based in Luleå. The fast food cooperation offers mainly burger meals and is one of McDonalds' biggest competitors in the country. Its profit grew generally in recent years, amounting to 386 million Swedish kronor in 2018.
Regarding salaries within the Swedish restaurant industry, the majority of professional chefs earned 24,000 to 25,999 Swedish kronor monthly. By comparison, most bartenders had a lower income, from 20,000 to 21,999 Swedish kronor.
