![The four-metre-long painting "Sonntag der Bergbauern" [Sunday of the Mountain Farmers, 1923-24/26] had to be removed by a crane from the German Chancellery in Berlin for the exhibition in Bern.](https://www.swissinfo.ch/content/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2025/12/01_Pressebild_KirchnerxKirchner.jpg?crop=1165px,0px,1670px,1670px&w=480&ver=8f77363a)
Swiss Growth Revised Up on Export Surge Before Trump Tariffs
(Bloomberg) — Switzerland’s growth spurt into 2025 was even more pronounced than initially estimated, with the economy expanding at the fastest pace in two years.
Before an anticipated hit from US tariffs, gross domestic product adjusted for large sport events increased 0.8% in the first quarter, the government said Monday. That’s up from the 0.7% reported in a preliminary reading and more than the revised 0.6% recorded between October and December.
“Exports to the US rose sharply, pointing to possible front-loading in connection with US trade policy,” the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs said in a statement. “The services sector delivered broad-based growth. Domestic demand developed positively.”
Activity was ramped up ahead of US President Donald Trump’s tariff announcement in April. Subsequently, the franc has sharply appreciated against the dollar and investment has stalled, both weighing on economic activity. Data for the second quarter are due Aug. 15.
The government is trying to head off the levies in talks with the US administration. It’s hinted at a possible compromise involving agricultural goods. Switzerland is particularly vulnerable to industry-specific duties on medicines, since pharma is its most important export sector.
Downside risks for the second quarter include a slump in manufacturing, after Switzerland’s Purchasing Managers’ Index unexpectedly fell in May. The gauge slumped to 42.1 from 45.8 in April, UBS and procure.ch said Monday, while economists had predicted an advance to 48.
The gauge has been below 50, signaling contraction, since the start of 2023.
The GDP data exclude contributions from large sport events because they can distort the overall picture of the economy. Switzerland is the home to many global sports bodies, so when for instance the Olympic Games take place — earning revenue for the International Olympic Committee — that boosts Swiss GDP without benefiting economic activity.
Without that adjustment, the economy grew by 0.5% in the first quarter, according to the statement.
–With assistance from Kristian Siedenburg and Joel Rinneby.
(Updates with PMI starting in sixth paragraph.)
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