Nordic Capital introduces Brain Business Jobs Index 2025 | Nordic Capital

Nordic Capital introduces the eighth edition of the Brain Business Jobs Index

  • While Western Europe and the Nordics still lead on a national level, Central Europe combines expert density with lower taxes, making them highly competitive. Four Central European capitals now top the regional ranking.
  • Bratislava, Prague, Budapest and Bucharest have the highest shares of adults employed in advanced knowledge jobs, with between 24.5 and 21.5 per cent of their populations in brain business roles.
  • Every percentage point increase in a region’s share of brain business jobs is associated with a 0.24 percentage point decrease in unemployment, underscoring their importance for resilient labour markets.

SEPTEMBER 08 2025

The study, produced by ECEPR and supported by Nordic Capital, maps and measures knowledge-intensive “Brain Business Jobs” as a share of working-age populations across Europe. Using structural business statistics from 33 countries and 243 regions, the index highlights how talent, policy and competitiveness shape Europe’s economic geography. Now in its eighth year, it is used by governments, universities, businesses and researchers to understand where and why advanced industries are growing.

Findings 2025:

Ireland closes in on Switzerland, Sweden rebounds
Ireland has surged ahead of Sweden to nearly match Switzerland in knowledge intensity. Today, 11.2 per cent of Irish adults are employed in brain business jobs – essentially the same as Switzerland’s 11.3 per cent. Sweden, which fell during the recent crises, has rebounded to 10.3 per cent, followed by Denmark and the Netherlands. Three of the top five nations are in Western Europe.

Southern and Eastern Europe accelerate
Cyprus and Portugal have more than doubled their share of adults in brain business jobs since 2014, rising by 136 per cent and 105 per cent respectively. Bulgaria, Lithuania and Croatia have also nearly doubled. In contrast, growth has been slowest in high-cost Luxembourg (2 per cent) and Iceland (6 per cent).

Regions: Central Europe dominates the top ten
Six of the top ten regions are in Central Europe, with Bratislava once again in first place, followed by Prague, Budapest and Bucharest. Copenhagen and Stockholm represent the Nordics in the top. Southern Europe does not feature in the top ten – Paris and Lisbon are the highest-ranking regions there.

Talent alone doesn’t guarantee jobs
Nordic countries have the highest share of engineers and scientists – Sweden leads with 13.4 per cent of adults – yet they employ fewer people in brain business jobs than expected. Ireland and Switzerland, with lower expert density, outperform due to business-friendly policies and tax competitiveness.

Advanced jobs cut regional unemployment
Regions with more brain business jobs consistently have lower unemployment. Each additional ten percentage points of population with such employment corresponds to an average unemployment rate 2.4 percentage points lower than the European average.

Change in brain business jobs concentration (per capita working-age inhabitants) 2014-2025:

Cyprus

136%

Portugal

105%

Bulgaria

99%

Lithuania

90%

Croatia

89%

Romania

83%

Poland

80%

Slovenia

69%

Estonia

67%

Slovakia

64%

Malta

62%

Hungary

50%

Spain

50%

Italy

46%

Czech Republic

41%

Latvia

39%

Belgium

30%

Netherlands

25%

Germany

22%

Austria

22%

Norway

21%

Finland

18%

France

17%

Greece

16%

Sweden

15%

Switzerland

11%

Denmark

11%

Iceland

6%

Luxembourg

2%


Source: Own analysis of Eurostat structural business statistics, short-term business statistics, and population data. Note: Ireland, Serbia, North Macedonia, and Albania had no complete data for previous years, and is therefore excluded in this historical comparison. The UK is unfortunately no longer included due to the data not being reported since Brexit.

For more information or questions, please contact the author Nima Sanandaji at nima@sanandaji.se

"We continue to see a trend in Europe where countries with the fastest growth in brain business jobs tend to have lower tax levels relative to GDP. Nations need to combine talent supply with competitive tax burdens to grow with knowledge-intensive jobs."

Klas Tikkanen, COO, Nordic Capital Advisors