Swiss Inflation Accelerates to Highest in Almost Three Years
(Bloomberg) — Switzerland’s inflation rate rose to the highest level in almost three years, driven by the surge in oil costs and a weaker franc.
Consumer prices increased 1.5% from a year earlier in October, the statistics office said on Tuesday. That’s up from 1% in September and stronger than predicted by any of the economists in a Bloomberg survey.
While the reading is within the Swiss National Bank’s 0-2% range, it’s already noticeably above the 1.2% forecast of policymakers for the fourth quarter. Officials see most of the acceleration as temporary and have said that medium-term pressures increased only slightly.
The franc jumped on the news, with the Swiss currency gaining to a five-month high against the euro.
SNB borrowing costs have been at the world’s lowest level of zero for more than a year, in part because the cost shock from the Iran war has been benign in Switzerland. Petrol prices have risen, but a smaller share of energy in the Swiss inflation basket has kept that from driving the gauge.
In October, rising prices for heating oil, petrol and diesel drove inflation, the statistics office said. So-called core inflation, which excludes volatile elements such as energy, held steady at 0.5%.
What Bloomberg Economics Says…
“Despite the upside surprise in the headline reading, it remains consistent with the SNB’s assessment and our view that policymakers will keep rates unchanged until late 2027, later than markets expect. Still, risks are increasingly tilted to the upside.”
—Jean Dalbard, economist. For full REACT, click here
The acceleration in Switzerland remains muted compared to the surrounding euro area, where the fallout from the Iran war probably drove price growth to twice the European Central Bank’s target last month. According to the harmonized European methodology, Swiss inflation in October was 1.6%, versus an expected 4% in the currency bloc.
Over the past months, a continued weakening of the franc has boosted domestic cost increases, as buying abroad became pricier for the Swiss. Policymakers acknowledged this at their most recent rate decision in September, dialing down their threat of intervention after some action to weaken the currency.
–With assistance from Joel Rinneby, Harumi Ichikura, Kristian Siedenburg and Vassilis Karamanis.
(Updates with franc in fourth pargraph)
©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
See more Swissinfo articles in your Google results. Learn more
