Economy Swiss exports continue decline in August

In August, the Swiss export industry continued the decline that has been ongoing for several months and sold slightly fewer goods abroad. Once again, the decline in exports of chemical-pharmaceutical products in particular pushed exports into negative territory.

In total, exports amounted to CHF 22.13 billion in August, as reported by the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security (FOCBS) on Thursday. Seasonally adjusted, exports thus fell by 1.2 percent compared to the previous month. In real terms - i.e. adjusted for price changes - this resulted in a fall of 0.2 percent.

The slight downward trend has thus continued at a high level since April 2024, writes the FOCA. The decline in exports is mainly attributable to chemical-pharmaceutical products (-2.3%). However, exports of metals also fell by double digits (-11.1%). In contrast, exports of watches increased again (+5.9%) after two months of decline.

Geographically, of the major sales markets, only North America (-13.2%) was responsible for the decline in exports. In contrast, exports to Europe and Asia increased. Exports to Spain, for example, recorded the strongest increase in the last 15 months.

Meanwhile, imports amounted to CHF 18.27 billion in July, which corresponded to a nominal decrease of 0.1% and a real decrease of 0.8%.

The surplus in the trade balance thus amounted to CHF 3.86 billion, compared to CHF 4.10 billion in the previous month.

SDA