Trade and industry

The municipality has a diversified structure in the area of trade and industry. A majority of the about 6.000 present companies are small or medium-sized companies. There is also a number of well-known companies with a high number of employees. This structure of trade and industry in Kristianstad brings about a vigorous choice.

Thanks to the fertile soil of the plains of Kristianstad as well as its intensive cultivation, the processing of agricultural products has a large impact on industry.

Kristianstad - the Swedish centre for food and drink
The food industry is comprehensive and includes about 4.500 employees. Many well-known brands such as Absolut, Knorr, Önos, Blå Band, Kronfågel, Åhus Glass, Scan, Skånemejerier, Stärkelsen and Konsumbagarn originate from Kristianstad and surroundings. There's no doubt why Kristianstad may be referred to as the Swedish centre for food and drink. Almost every day you eat or drink something that originates from Kristianstad.

The food industry also englobes a large service sector such as transport/logistics, engineering plants, laboratories, marketing, education in the area of culinary arts and food sciences etc.

Kristianstad - a commercial town
Kristianstad is an attractive and pulsating centre for trade and culture. Enyoy the commercial town of Kristianstad, comprising some 300 specialist shops and restaurants. Stroll about the pedestrian streets, markets, boulevards and alleys in the well-preserved town centre of Kristianstad, sometimes referred to as "Little Paris." Kristianstad is often considered to be one of the most exquisite shopping cities of the region.

Just right outside the city centre - quite close to E22 (European motorway) in the surroundings of Härlöv - a large commercial centre has developed. Furniture stores, shops for home furnishing, electrical supplies stores and building material stores are the principal kinds of stores that have established here so far.

Good communications  

Good communications by air, by boat, by train and by car characterize the location of Kristianstad.

Kristianstad Airport (only in Swedish) - about 15 minutes by car from the centre of Kristianstad - offers daily connections with Stockholm. 

The Port of Åhus is an important container port offering good facilities at quay for loading, unloading and storing.

If you opt for Skånetrafiken, you will travel fast and easily to destinations such as Hässleholm, Karlskrona, Lund or Malmö and may continue non-stop to Kastrup Airport or Copenhagen via the Öresund Bridge. The trip to Copenhagen will just take two hours.

The railway network has a nationwide coverage - from Hässleholm (just 30 kilometres from Kristianstad) you can easily go to Stockholm, e.g. by X2000 ("SJ" - "Swedish State Railway's" high-speed train).

Via E22 European highway - the significant link Copenhagen-Malmö-Lund-Kristianstad-Karlskrona-Kalmar - you will reach Malmö in one hour and can then easily continue to Copenhagen by crossing the Öresund Bridge - it just takes another thirty minutes. E22 European highway has been prioritized for extension to highway standards along the whole stretch of road in Skåne.

Other significant roads are main highway 21 Kristianstad-Helsingborg, where you from Helsingborg can go by ferryboat to Helsinor in Denmark, as well as main highway 19 Kristianstad-Osby-Älmhult-Växjö.

Education and competence development

Prospects are good for education and competence development in Kristianstad. There's a complete choice of different educational programmes comprising compulsory (9-year comprehensive) school, upper secondary school, municipal adult education and Kristianstad University.

"KY-utbildning" (advanced vocational training)

International Baccalaureate (IB)

Handels- och administrationsprogrammet (trade and administrative programme)

Kristianstad University (Kristianstad Högskola)

For further information:

-  Österänggymnasiet (only information in Swedish) - "KY-utbildning"

-  Söderportgymnasiet (only information in Swedish) - IB and "Handels- och administrationsprogrammet".

-  Kristianstad University