Switzerland’s foreign trade picked up in August, following the decline in July. Exports, driven by immunological products, rose 1.4% over one month to 21.83 billion francs.
Imports also increased, by 1.5% to 19.48 billion, in seasonally adjusted data.
At the end of the month under review, the trade balance showed a balance of 2.3 billion francs, an amount identical to that of July, indicated on Tuesday the Federal Administration of Customs and Border Security (OFDF). .
In real terms, ie adjusted for inflation, shipments from Switzerland to foreign countries increased by 2.1% in one month, while imports grew by 1.3%.
Exports thus posted their fourth increase in the last five months, with only July posting a decline. Since the beginning of the year, they have recorded a “slight” favorable trend, according to the OFDF. While imports accelerated in August, they have nonetheless stalled over the past few months.
On the export side, more than half of the commodity groups recorded an increase in August. The mainstay of Swiss shipments, the chemicals and pharmaceuticals sector made the strongest contribution to growth (+4.4% to 11.17 billion francs), driven in particular by immunological products (+17.4%) and basic raw materials (+27.7%). The machinery and electronics industry recovered from the bad patch of the previous month, its deliveries abroad expanding by 2.8% to 2.69 billion.
First setback for watchmaking since April
On the other hand, shipments from the watch industry fell slightly by 2.2% to 2.06 billion francs, a first since April.
Broken down by region, Switzerland’s exports grew in its three main markets. Deliveries to North America increased by 4% to 4.4 billion, those to Europe by 2.8% to 12.49 billion and those to Asia by 1.3% to 5, 22 billion, despite a decline of 3.2% in China.
On the Old Continent, exports to Germany gained 5.7% to 3.85 billion francs, while those to Slovenia took off by 19.2% to 1.08 billion. Deliveries in Austria also accelerated by 8.9% to 681 million. On the other hand, shipments to Spain collapsed by 41.5% to 418 million.
Those to major Italian and French trading partners contracted by 9.4% to 1.78 billion and by 1.2% to 1.18 billion.
On entry, half of the commodity groups rose in August, led by vehicles and the machinery and electronics sector. The former posted a fourth consecutive increase, reaching their highest level since November 2020, while the latter climbed to an all-time high. Imports of energy products fell by 1.7% in nominal terms, but increased by 2.8% in real terms.
This article has been published automatically. Source: ats/awp