Swiss Inflation Jumps to Fastest Since 2024 on War Fallout
(Bloomberg) — Switzerland’s inflation quickened to a 16-month high in April as energy costs jumped because of war in the Middle East.
Consumer prices rose 0.6% from a year earlier, up from 0.3% in March. That matched the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists. Every forecaster had expected a pickup.
Rising costs for petroleum products were among the main contributors to the acceleration, Switzerland’s statistics office said on Thursday. As oil and gas shortages drove costs in other sectors, prices for vegetables and tropical fruits also registered big increases. Due to local regulation, possible higher bills for electricity will hit consumers only next year.
A measure for underlying inflation — which strips out energy — slowed to 0.3%, indicating that price increases aren’t spreading for now.
While the overall result marks the second acceleration in a row, the Swiss National Bank expects the spike in costs to be short-lived. There’s “hardly any change” to medium-term price pressures, President Martin Schlegel said in a speech on April 24.
He repeated that stance at an event in the Swiss town of Zug on Tuesday. While inflation recently picked up, the Swiss gauge stayed within the realm of price stability and medium-term pressures have barely changed, he said, according to a slide presentation released on the SNB’s website.
Even so, the return of some inflation to the economy will offer breathing space to the central bank, which was confronting slow inflation before the Iran war started, driven by the strength of the franc. By reducing import costs, the exchange rate can weigh on the gauge.
At the event, Schlegel reiterated the SNB’s recent stance that its willingness to step into markets to mitigate upward pressure on the currency caused by the Middle East crisis has increased.
Economists are less optimistic on growth and inflation than the central bank, and don’t predict any change in interest rates before 2028, with the benchmark staying at zero until then. By contrast, investors are betting on a hike by the end of this year. Futures pricing indicates expectations for roughly a 25 basis-point increase of borrowing costs.
The central bank anticipates consumer-price growth to average 0.5% in the second quarter. Unless inflation slows again in coming months, it could end up exceeding that forecast.
Swiss inflation is still much slower than in the euro area surrounding the country. There, consumer prices surged 3% in April — the fastest pace since September 2023. Based on the European Union’s harmonized measure, the Swiss rate was 0.5%.
–With assistance from Kristian Siedenburg, Joel Rinneby and Harumi Ichikura.
(Updates with Schlegel comments from sixth paragraph.)
©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
