Fehmarnbelt Tunnel: Great expectations for economic growth and job creation

Sep 29, 2019 | Uncategorized

Expectations are on the rise that the Fehmarnbelt Link will create jobs and growth in the surrounding region. A survey of the attitudes towards the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel in the regions of Denmark, Sweden, Germany and Norway that are closest to the Fixed Link, shows especially high hopes for positive effects in Denmark and Germany, although Sweden and Norway are also expected to benefit.

As many as 60 percent of the surveyed Danes believed that the Fixed Link will benefit the Danish economy, with 50 percent and 51 percent also believing that it would increase competitiveness and job growth.

However, the positive expectations far outweighed the negative in all surveyed regions: More than half of Germans in the survey think the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel will benefit the economies in Denmark (61 percent), Germany (53 percent) and Sweden (52 percent), while 42 percent think it will also create economic growth in Norway.

The figures were slightly lower in Sweden and Norway, although positive expectations still far outweighed negative ones – while 35 percent of Swedes agreed that the Fixed Link will benefit the Swedish economy, only 10 percent disagreed. The corresponding numbers for Norwegians were 23 and 10 percent.

 

Source: YouGov on-line (CAWI) survey conducted in Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein in Germany, Zealand (incl. Copenhagen) in Denmark, Region Skåne, Halland and Västra Götaland in Sweden and Østfold and Akershus Fylker in Norway. Data was collected in the period April 23rd – May 1st 2018. The respondents were aged 18+.

Trade optimism
One reason for the optimism may be that the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel is expected to bring a huge increase in trade in the region. A full two-thirds of Danes in the survey agree that the Fixed Link will increase trade between Scandinavia and Germany, an attitude that is seen all over the region (Germans 57 percent; Swedes 57 percent; Norwegians 50 percent). This is a slight increase since the first poll was conducted three years ago.

“The Fehmarn Tunnel will be a game changer in mobility both close to the link but also for the economic exchange between Scandinavia and Germany. And an increase in trade both within the region and with neighbouring regions will be one of the developments that will have a substantial effect on the economies and serve as driver of economic growth in the whole of Northern Europe”, says Jacob Vestergaard, Managing Director of STRING.

 

About the survey:

The survey was conducted in Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein in Germany, Zealand including Copenhagen in Denmark, Region Skåne, Halland and Västra Götaland in Sweden and Østfold and Akershus Counties in Norway. Data was collected in the period April 23rd – May 1st 2018. The respondents were aged 18+. All interviews were collected on-line (CAWI) and the results have been weighed against the total population in Germany, Sweden,

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