Xifres de comerç exterior de Suïssa

Foreign Trade in Figures

The Swiss economy is extremely open to foreign trade, which represents 131% of the country’s GDP (World Bank – latest data available). According to official figures from the Federal Statistical Institute, in 2021, exports were led by chemical products (50.4% of the total), machines and electronics (12%), watches (8.6%), precision instruments (6.7%), metals (5.6%), and jewellery (4%). As per imports, chemical and pharmaceutical products were the main category (27.3%), followed by machines and electronics (16.3%), vehicles (8.8%), metals (8.1%), and textiles, clothing, shoes (6.2%).

At country level, the United States absorbed 18% of Swiss exports, thereby dethroning Germany (17%) as the top sales market for the first time since 1954. Other major destinations for the country’s exports were China (6%), Italy (6%), France (5.8%), and Spain (4.8%). Overall, Europe accounted for 71.2% of total exports. Germany (27.4% share), Italy (9.4%) and China (8.9%) remained Switzerland's three principal procurement markets in 2021, ahead of France (7.6%), the U.S. (6%), and Austria (4.5% - Federal Statistical Office data).

Switzerland has a structurally large trade surplus. Exports rely mostly on high-tech sectors, which are less dependent on the international economic situation than other industries. According to WTO data, in 2021, Switzerland's exports of goods amounted to USD 380.1 billion while imports stood at USD 324 billion (+19% and +11% compared to one year earlier, respectively). As with regard to services, Switzerland exported USD 134.7 billion (+19.3%), while it imported USD 142.3 billion (+25%). The country’s trade surplus was estimated at 11.9% of GDP in 2021 by the World Bank (was 6.4% one year earlier). According to preliminary figures from the Federal Customs Administration, in the first eleven months of 2022, Swiss exports totalled CHF 244.5 billion whereas imports stood at CHF 215.8 billion (in real terms).