Browse a full set of economic indicators

Switzerland

Includes Switzerland real Gross Domestic Product growth rate, with latest forecasts and historical data, GDP per capita, GDP composition and breakdown by sector.

Browse additional economic indicators and data sets, selected by Global Finance editors, to learn more about Switzerland economic outlook, debt to GDP ratio, international trade performance and population trends. Rankings of Switzerland best banks and safest banks are also available.

Basic Information

Government Type: Federal republic (formally a confederation)

Capital City: Bern

GDP & Economic Information

Macroeconomy & Sovereign Data

Central Bank Swiss National Bank

Currency Swiss francs (CHF)

International Reserves USD 1,083.40 billion (2020)
World Bank, last updated 12/16/2021
Gross Domestic Product – GDP USD 810.83 billion (2021 estimate)
IMF – World Economic Outlook, October 2021
GDP (Purchasing Power Parity) USD 677.27 billion (2021 estimate)
IMF – World Economic Outlook, October 2021

GDP Data

Real GDP growth 2017: 1.7%
2018: 2.9%
2019: 1.2%
2020: -2.5% (Estimate)
2021: 3.7% (Estimate)
GDP per capita – current prices USD 93,515.48 (2021 estimate)
IMF – World Economic Outlook, October 2021
GDP per capita – PPP USD 78,111.51 (2021 estimate)
IMF – World Economic Outlook, October 2021
GDP (PPP) – share of world total 0.47% (2021 estimate)
IMF – World Economic Outlook, October 2021
GDP – composition by sector agriculture: 0.7%
industry: 25.2%
services: 71.3%
(2020)
Gross domestic expenditure on R&D; (% of GDP) 3.2% (2017)

Inflation 2017: 0.5%
2018: 0.9%
2019: 0.4%
2020: -0.7% (Estimate)
2021: 0.4% (Estimate)

Inflation & Debt

Inflation 2017: 0.5%
2018: 0.9%
2019: 0.4%
2020: -0.7% (Estimate)
2021: 0.4% (Estimate)
Government Bond Ratings Standard & Poor’s: AAA

Moody’s: AaaStandard & Poor’s / Moody’s (January 2022)
Unemployment rate 2017: 3.1%
2018: 2.5%
2019: 2.3%
2020: 3.1% (Estimate)
2021: 3.1% (Estimate)
Household saving rates 23.1% (2020)
OECD, retrieved January 2022
Public debt (General government gross debt as a % of GDP) 2017: 41.2%
2018: 39.2%
2019: 39.8%
2020: 42.4% (Estimate)
2021: 42.7% (Estimate)
Public deficit (General government net lending/borrowing as a % of GDP) 2017: 1.3%
2018: 1.4%
2019: 1.5%
2020: –2.7% (Estimate)
2021: –1.9% (Estimate)
Market value of publicly traded shares USD 2,002 billion (2020)

Largest Companies Nestlé, Roche Holding, Novartis, Zurich Insurance Group, UBS, Chubb, Credit Suisse Group, ABB, LafargeHolcim, Swiss Life Holding, Glencore International, Swiss Re, Swisscom, Kuehne & Nagel International, Richemont, STMicroelectronics, Schindler Holding, Sika, Julius Baer Group, TE Connectivity, Lonza Group, Givaudan, Bâloise Group, Alcon, Partners Group Holding, Garmin, Helvetia Holding, SGS, Logitech International, Geberit, Adecco, Coca-Cola HBC, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise, EMS-Chemie Holding, Lindt & Sprungli, Barry Callebaut, Swatch Group, Basler Kantonalbank, Luzerner Kantonalbank, Sonova Holding, ALSO Holding, EFG International
Forbes Global 2000 (2021)

Import/Export

Exports as percent of GDP (Exports of goods and services) 62.3% (2020)
World Bank – World Development Indicators (updated Feb 2022)
Shares in world total merchandising export 1.8% (2020)

Shares in world total commercial services export 2.3% (2020)

Total exports USD 470.9 billion (2020 estimate)

Export commodities Gold, packaged medicines, medical cultures/vaccines, watches, jewelry (2019)

Total imports USD 401.5 billion (2020 estimate)

Import commodities Gold, packaged medicines, jewelry, cars, medical cultures/vaccines (2019)

Exports – major partners Germany 16%, United States 14%, United Kingdom 8%, China 7%, France 6%, India 6%, Italy 5% (2019)

Imports – major partners Germany 21%, Italy 8%, United States 6%, France 6%, United Kingdom 5%, United Arab Emirates 5% (2019)

Competitiveness & Trade

Current account balance USD 58.5 billion (2021 estimate)
IMF – World Economic Outlook, October 2021
Current account balance by percentage of GDP 7.2% (2021 estimate)
IMF – World Economic Outlook, October 2021
FDI inflows 2019: USD –68.3 billion
2020: USD –79.1 billion
2021: USD –47.2 billion
FDI Outflows 2019: USD 43.5 billion
2020: USD –43.7 billion
2021: USD –16.8 billion
Value of cross-border M&A, by country of purchaser 2018: USD 18.6 billion
2019: USD 34.6 billion
2020: USD 17.2 billion
2021: USD 14.9 billion
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2014 N/A
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2015 N/A
Best countries for doing business Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business. A high ease of doing business ranking means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm.

Overall ranking: 36 out of 190 countries (2020)

Subcategories:

Starting a Business: 81 out of 190 countries
Dealing with Construction Permits: 71 out of 190 countries
Getting Electricity: 13 out of 190 countries
Registering Property: 18 out of 190 countries
Getting Credit: 67 out of 190 countries
Protecting Minority Investors: 105 out of 190 countries
Paying Taxes: 20 out of 190 countries
Trading across Borders: 26 out of 190 countries
Enforcing Contracts: 57 out of 190 countries
Resolving Insolvency: 49 out of 190 countries
World Bank – Doing Business 2020
Global competitiveness ranking
12 out of 141 (2019)
World Economic Forum / Global competitiveness ranking
Index of Economic Freedom Ranking: 2 / Score: 84.2 (Free)
The Heritage Foundation – 2022 Index of Economic Freedom

Population & Geographic Data

Time Zone UTC+1

Total Area 41,277 sq km



Total Population 1990: 6.7 million
2000: 7.2 million
2010: 7.8 million
2015: 8.3 million
2020: 8.6 million
Urban population as % of total population 1960: 70.9%
1980: 74.5%
2000: 73.4%
2020: 73.9%
Population median age 42.7 (2022 est.)

Population growth rate 0.65% (2022 est.)

Life expectancy 83.2 years (2022 est.)

% of population living on less than $3.10 a day 0% (last available estimate, 2018)
Inequality of wealth distribution (Gini index)
33.1 (last available estimate, 2018)

(0=perfect equality, 100=absolute inequality)
Freedom House rating Total score: 96/100

Status: Free

Political Rights: 39/40

Civil Liberties: 57/60 (2022)
Total telephone subscribers as % of population
Fixed: 35.5%

Mobile: 127.3% (2020)

(fixed-telephone subscribers and mobile-cellular subscribers)
Internet users as % of total population 94.2% (2020)

Language & Religon

Languages German (or Swiss German) (official) 62.1%, French (official) 22.8%, Italian (official) 8%, English 5.7%, Portuguese 3.5%, Albanian 3.3%, Serbo-Croatian 2.3%, Spanish 2.3%, Romansh (official) 0.5%, other 7.9%; note – German, French, Italian, and Romansh are all national and official languages; shares sum to more than 100% because respondents could indicate more than one main language (2019 est.)

Literacy
N/A
Religions Roman Catholic 34.4%, Protestant 22.5%, other Christian 5.7%, Muslim 5.5%, other 1.6%, none 29.5%, unspecified 0.8% (2019 est.)

World Rankings

Population 8.6 M
Mercer Cost of living index N/A
C02 Emissions per capita 4.4 metric tons per capita (2018)

Global Finance Rankings & Awards: Switzerland

Global Finance Magazine holds several conferences and awards ceremonies throughout the year to recognize the winning financial institutions and companies in a host of categories including World’s Best Trade Finance Banks, World's Biggest Banks, World's Safest Banks, World's Best Developed & Emerging Markets Banks, World's Best Internet Banks, and World’s Best Investment Banks.


Data Sources:

IMF World Economic Outlook

UN World Population Prospects

World Inequality Report

S&P Global Ratings

Moody’s

Fitch Ratings

IMF Direction of Trade Statistics (DOTS)

UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

CIA The World Factbook

World Bank’s World Integrated Trade Solution

Forbes Global 2000

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