Swiss foreign trade booms in the first quarter
Keystone-SDA
Select your language
Generated with artificial intelligence.
Listening: Swiss foreign trade booms in the first quarter
Swiss imports and exports reached new heights in the first quarter, driven by the chemicals and pharmaceuticals sectors. Shipments to the United States rose sharply.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA
Français
fr
Le commerce extérieur suisse en plein essor au premier trimestre
Original
Between January and the end of March, seasonally adjusted exports rose by 3.6% in nominal terms (not adjusted for inflation) over a quarter, passing the CHF74 billion mark for the first time, the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (FOCBS) said in a press release on Thursday.
“The upward trend that began in the second quarter of 2024 has thus been confirmed, leading to a new all-time peak in outflows”, the FOCBS noted.
Over the same period, imports rose by 5.9% to a record 60.5 billion. On the input side, too, the positive trend observed since the second quarter of 2024 continued, “albeit at a slower pace”. The trade surplus stood at CHF13.6 billion.
With the exception of vehicles, all the groups of goods exported recorded an increase in the first quarter, albeit at different rates. With a rise of CHF2.3 billion, chemical and pharmaceutical products made the biggest contribution – based solely on the price effect – to export growth.
Exports to North America saw the strongest growth, up 16.6%, and 17.4% to the United States. In terms of imports, all twelve commodity groups were up on the previous quarter, contributing to a record result of CHF2.5 billion (+12.6%). Imports of chemical and pharmaceutical products were also “by far the most dynamic”.
Adapted from French by DeepL/ac
How we work
We select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate them into English. An editor then briefly reviews the translation for clarity and accuracy before publication. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. The news stories we select have been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team from news agencies such as Bloomberg or Keystone.
Train vs plane: would you take a direct train between London and Geneva?
Eurostar is planning to run direct trains from Britain to Germany and Switzerland from the early 2030s. Would you favour the train over the plane? If not, why not?
This content was published on
The Fête de l'Epouvantail (scarecrow festival) is celebrating its 30th anniversary and returns to Denens in canton Vaud for its seventh edition from July 10-20.
This content was published on
A 35-year-old man has died in a work accident at the valley station of the Heimwehfluh toboggan run in Matten near Interlaken, canton Bern.
This content was published on
The Swiss embassy in Tehran re-opened on Sunday after being closed on June 20 owing to the unstable situation in the country.
This content was published on
Queen Maxima of the Netherlands and her youngest daughter Princess Ariane attended the Netherlands' women's European Championship football match against Wales in Switzerland on Saturday.
Swiss want to better protect military airfields from spying
This content was published on
Swiss Defence Minister Martin Pfister says he wants to better protect Swiss military airfields against espionage activities.
Man charged with flying drone at women’s Euro 2025
This content was published on
A man flew a drone around the venue on Wednesday evening during the first match of the Women's EURO 2025 in St. Gallen. The 30-year-old violated the absolute ban on flying during match days. He was reported to the police.
More than 250 Swiss companies sign CO2 reduction initiative
This content was published on
A total of 257 companies from Switzerland have signed up to the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi). In doing so, they are committing to CO2 reduction targets that are compatible with the Paris Climate Agreement.
Swiss accident prevention group sees federal targets at risk
This content was published on
The Swiss government's target for accident figures is at risk, reckons Mario Cavegn, member of the executive board of the Swiss Council for Accident Prevention.
Feminicide: Swiss justice minister calls for electronic monitoring
This content was published on
Swiss Justice Minister Beat Jans has called for electronic monitoring and an ankle bracelet warning system for perpetrators of violence against women.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.