One of the greatest advantages of the Baltic Sea Region is the large, highly-skilled and competitively-priced workforce. It is one of the main factors behind the high level of competitiveness of the region. In fact, the BSR serves the knowledge economy with a higher share of its people than any other in Europe.
The people of the BSR are highly educated. In fact, in many areas, a very high percentage of the working population has completed tertiary education (university degree or equivalent); for example, 35 percent in Finland, 33.5 percent in Denmark and 33.3 percent in Estonia. Many businesses depend on the competencies of the region’s steady flow of university graduates to gain a competitive edge.
The supply of highly-educated people is made possible by the abundance of higher learning institutions in the region. The BSR countries host 64 out of the TOP200 universities in Europe according to the Webometrics Ranking of World Universities. Many of these institutions offer education of the highest quality – on par with any in the world. Businesses in the region depend on its highly-educated workforce.
The large number of educational institutions produces a lot of students. While students certainly give their cities a liveliness and creative buzz, they also benefit business. Knowledge-intensive and technology-focused companies in particular make use of the young, talented and open-minded student pool.
Another important aspect to the well-functioning business environment is the very good foreign language skills of BSR residents. They are very good both in terms of the number of languages spoken as well as the level to which they can be used. English is the de facto business language throughout the region.
