Switzerland Country Report: GDP data and GDP forecasts; economic, financial and trade information; the best banks in Switzerland; country and population overview
DATA ON GDP AND ECONOMIC INFORMATION
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Central bank |
 |
Swiss National Bank (2009) |
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Reserves of foreign exchange and gold |
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$155.201 billion (Source: IMF; Data updated: January 2010) |
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Gross Domestic Product - GDP |
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488,470 millions of US dollars (2008) |
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GDP (Purchasing Power Parity) |
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324,576 millions of International dollars (2008) |
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Real GDP growth |
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| 2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
2008 |
| 1.2% |
0.4% |
-0.2% |
2.5% |
2.6% |
3.6% |
3.6% |
1.8% |
2009: -1.5% (estimate)
2010: 1.5% (forecast)
|
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GDP per capita - current prices |
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$69,839 (2010 estimate) |
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GDP per capita - PPP |
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$43,903 International Dollars (2010 estimate) |
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GDP (PPP) - share of world total |
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0.44% (2010 estimate) |
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GDP - composition by sector |
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- agriculture: 1.5%
- industry: 34%
- services: 64.5% (2003 estimate)
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Gross domestic expenditure on R&D (% of GDP) |
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2.90% (2004) |
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Inflation |
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2.4% (2008)
-0.4% (2009)
0.7(2008)% (2010 forecast)
|
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Unemployment rate |
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2.7% (2008)
4.2% (2009)
5% (2010 forecast)(2009) |
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Household saving rates |
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12% (2006) |
| Public debt (General government gross debt as a % of GDP) |
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2007: 48.60%
2010: -% (forecast) |
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Government bond ratings |
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Standard & Poor's: AAA/Stable/A-1+
Moody's rating: Aaa
Moody's outlook: STA
(Foreign Currency Government Bond Ratings; Data last updated Nov 2009)
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Market value of publicly traded shares |
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US$1.275 trillion (31 December 2007) |
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Largest companies in Switzerland |
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Nestlé (Food, Drink & Tobacco), Credit Suisse Group (Diversified Financials), Novartis (Drugs & Biotechnology), Zurich Financial Services (Insurance), Roche Holding (Drugs & Biotechnology), ABB (Capital Goods), ACE (Insurance)
(2010) |
DATA ON TRADE AND COMPETITIVENESS
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Current account balance |
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US$ 48.87 billion (2010 forecast)(After 2008)
- |
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Current account balance by percentage of GDP |
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9.5% of GDP (2010 forecast)(After 2008) |
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Shares in world total merchandising export |
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1.23% (2007)(2007) |
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Shares in world total commercial services export |
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1.87% (2007)(2007) |
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Total exports |
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US$172.7 billion f.o.b. (2008 estimate) |
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Export commodities |
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machinery, chemicals, metals, watches, agricultural products |
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Total imports |
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US$212.8 billion f.o.b. (2008 estimate) |
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Import commodities |
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machinery, chemicals, vehicles, metals; agricultural products, textiles |
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Exports - major partners |
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Germany 20.3%, US 9.7%, Italy 8.7%, France 8.4%, UK 5.1% (2007) |
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Imports - major partners |
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Germany 32.6%, Italy 10.8%, France 9.5%, US 5.8%, Netherlands 4.6%, Austria 4.2%, UK 4.2% (2007) |
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FDI inflows |
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| 2007 |
2008 |
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| US$49,245 million(2009) |
US$17,415 million(2009) |
|
|
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FDI outflows |
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| 2007 |
2008 |
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| US$49,661 million(2009) |
US$86,295 million(2009) |
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|
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Value of cross-border M&A, by country of purchaser |
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| 2007 |
2008 |
2009 (Jan-Jun) |
| US$12,681 million |
US$25,434 million(2009) |
US$2,000 million(2009) |
|
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Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2007
(Acquiring company, Acquired company, Country of the acquired company, Value of the deal)
|
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Nestle SA, Gerber Products Co, United States, $5.5 billion
Swisscom AG, FASTWEB SpA, Italy, $5.5 billion
(for a monthly update on M&A click here ) |
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Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2008
(Acquiring company, Acquired company, Country of the acquired company, Value of the deal)
|
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Novartis AG, Alcon Inc, United States, $10.5 billion
Roche Holding AG, Ventana Medical Systems Inc, United States, $3.7 billion
(2008 estimate)
(for a monthly update on M&A click here ) |
Best countries for doing business (ranking by country on a basis of 181, the first is the best)
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Overall ranking: 21(2009) (2009)
Subcategories:
Starting a business: 71(2009)
Employing workers: 16
Registering property: 15
Getting credit: 15
Protecting investors: 165
Trading across border: 39
(2009) |
Global competitiveness ranking
(ranking by country on a basis of 133, the first is the best) |
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1 (2009/2010) |
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Economic freedom index
|
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79.4 (2009)
(100=totally free 0=totally repressed ) |
COUNTRY AND POPULATION OVERVIEW
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Time zone |
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UTC+1 |
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Total area |
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41,277 km2 (2006) |
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Capital |
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Bern (2009) |
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Currency |
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Swiss francs (CHF) (2009) |
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Government type |
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formally a confederation but similar in structure to a federal republic (2009) |
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Languages |
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German (official) 63.7%, French (official) 20.4%, Italian (official) 6.5%, Serbo-Croatian 1.5%, Albanian 1.3%, Portuguese 1.2%, Spanish 1.1%, English 1%, Romansch (official) 0.5%, other 2.8% (2000 census) |
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Religions |
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Roman Catholic 41.8%, Protestant 35.3%, Muslim 4.3%, Orthodox 1.8%, other Christian 0.4%, other 1%, unspecified 4.3%, none 11.1% (2000 census) |
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Total population |
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7.32 million (2009 forecast) |
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Urban population as % of total population |
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76% (2006) |
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Population median age |
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40.0 years (2006) |
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Population growth rate |
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0.40% (2006) |
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Life expectancy |
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82 years (2007) |
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Adult literacy |
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- |
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% of population living on less than $2 a day |
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- |
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Inequality of wealth distribution (Gini index) |
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33.7 (2000)
(0=perfect equality, 100=absolute inequality) |
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Freedom House rating |
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Political Rights: 1
Civil Liberties: 1 (2009)
(1 represents the most free, 7 the least free) |
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Total telephone subscribers as % of population |
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175.59% (2007)
(sum of fixed telephone lines and mobile cellular subscribers)
|
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Internet users as % of total population |
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77.00% (data refer to 2008 and were released in 2009) |
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Cost of living - Mercer index
(ranking by city on a basis of 143; the 1st is the most expensive and the 143rd is the least expensive; New York is the base city)
|
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New York - Index: 100 (Base)
Geneva: 84th - Index: 109.2
Zurich: 6th - Index: 105.2 (2009) |
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CO2 emissions
|
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5.4731 (2004)
(metric tons of CO2 per capita)
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GLOBAL FINANCE RANKINGS AND AWARDS
WORLD'S BEST FOREIGN EXCHANGE BANKS
2010:
- COUNTRY WINNERS Credit Suisse (National, 2010)
2009:
- COUNTRY WINNERS Credit Suisse (National, 2009)
2008:
- Honorable Mention Western Europe UBS (Western Europe, 2008)
- COUNTRY WINNERS UBS (National, 2008)
WORLD'S BEST TRADE FINANCE PROVIDERS
2010:
- COUNTRY WINNERS Credit Suisse (National, 2010)
2009:
- COUNTRY WINNERS Credit Suisse (National, 2009)
2008:
- COUNTRY WINNERS Credit Suisse (National, 2008)
WORLD'S BEST DEVELOPED MARKET BANKS
2010:
- Credit Suisse (National, 2010)
2009:
- Credit Suisse (Europe, 2009)
2008:
- Credit Suisse (National, 2008)
WORLD'S MID YEAR SAFEST BANKS RANKINGS
(ranking of the 50 safest banks in the world; the first is the safest) 2009:
- Credit Suisse Group (43, 2009)
- UBS AG (40, 2009)
- Zuercher Kantonalbank (5, 2009)
WORLD'S BEST GLOBAL BANKS
2009:
- Private Bank Credit Suisse (Global, 2009)
2008:
- Private Bank Credit Suisse (Global, 2008)
WORLD'S BEST INTERNET BANKS
2009:
- COUNTRY WINNERS / Best Corporate/Institutional Internet Banks Citi (2009)
2008:
- COUNTRY WINNERS / Best Corporate/Institutional Internet Banks Citi (2008)
WORLD'S BEST SUB CUSTODIANS
2010:
- COUNTRY WINNERS Credit Suisse (National, 2010)
2009:
- COUNTRY WINNERS Credit Suisse (National, 2009)
2008:
- COUNTRY WINNERS Credit Suisse (National, 2008)
WORLD'S BEST INVESTMENT BANKS
2010:
- SECTORS / Real Estate UBS Investment Bank (Global, 2010)
- SECTORS / Telecom Credit Suisse (Global, 2010)
- COUNTRY WINNERS Credit Suisse (National, 2010)
2009:
- COUNTRY WINNERS Credit Suisse (National, 2009)
- DEALS OF THE YEAR / Best Debt Deal Roche Holdings notes ($16 billion) (Global, 2009)
2008:
- SECTORS / Real Estate Credit Suisse (Global, 2008)
- COUNTRY WINNERS UBS (National, 2008)
CENTRAL BANKER REPORT CARD
2009:
ARTICLES AND COUNTRIES REPORTS FROM GLOBAL FINANCE ARCHIVE
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