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Swiss economy stagnates in second quarter

Swiss economy barely grows in the second quarter
Swiss economy barely grows in the second quarter Keystone-SDA

After a strong start to the year, the Swiss economy has slowed considerably. In the second quarter, gross domestic product (GDP) rose by just 0.1% on an adjusted basis compared to the previous quarter.

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A negative trend in industry was offset by growth in the services sector in the second quarter of the year. This was reported by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) in its initial estimate published on Friday.

In the first quarter, Swiss GDP had shot up by 0.8%. At that time, more goods were exported from Switzerland to the US due to the uncertainty surrounding US customs policy in the run-up to “Liberation Day” at the beginning of April. Pharmaceutical exports in particular rose sharply in March amid concerns about high US tariffs.

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The Swiss economy thus developed in line with expectations, although there was little consensus among economists in the run-up to the event. The predictions of the experts surveyed by the news agency AWP ranged from a 0.3% decline in GDP to growth of 0.3%.

The current data is based on a quick estimate by SECO. Basic data that is still incomplete is supplemented with forecast values. The complete and updated data available at a later date could still change the result. SECO will publish the official estimate for the second quarter on August 28.

Translated from German by DeepL/ts

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