Despite the global economic uncertainties, Swiss foreign trade set high standards in both directions of trade in 2018: exports grew at their strongest rate (+5.7%) since 2010 in nominal terms and thus reached a new high.
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The same applies to imports, which even grew by 8.6% year on year and thereby exceeded the 200 billion franc mark. The trade balance showed a surplus of CHF 31.3 billion.
Exports rose by 5.7% in 2018 (+1.2% in real terms) to a reach a new record level of CHF 233.1 billion. Imports also reached an all-time high, rising by CHF 16 billion to CHF 201.8 billion (+8.6%; real terms: +6.0%) during the year.
However, the quarterly development varied depending on the direction of trade.
Export growth in the first two quarters was followed by a visible decline in the third quarter. The fourth quarter then saw another sharp increase (+6.3%).
Imports grew overall in the first two quarters, and then fell to a high level in the second half of the year. The trade surplus amounted to CHF
1,320 million, which was CHF 3,489 million
less than the previous year.
All major branches contributed to the rise in exports. The biggest contribution to growth came from the group with the highest turnover,
hemical and pharmaceutical products (+5.7 bn;
+5.8%).
In particular, exports of medicines grew by 8.9% during the year. Shipments of machinery and electronics grew by 4.6% (+1.5 bn) and those of watches by 6.3% (+1.3 bn).
Exports of precision instruments rose at practically the same rate, and thereby posted their third consecutive annual increase of 7.4%. In the "Others" group, metals are worth mentioning, with their export growth of 5.5% (+752 mn).
Switzerland sold more goods in value terms in all sales territories in 2018.
Among the three main markets, North America stood out with a surge of 11.6%, whereby a new record was set with the generation of additional turnover of CHF 4.2 billion in the United States alone.
Europe and Asia posted virtually the same growth rates (+4.2% and +4.4%, respectively).
The additional demand from Europe was very broadly based in terms of countries. The surge in the Netherlands and Spain was striking (+51.5
nd 16.8%, respectively), driven by the significant
increase in shipments of pharmaceutical products.
The increase in Germany (+3.6%) also played a role, with additional turnover of CHF 1.5 billion.
In contrast, exports to the United Kingdom fell by 23%, the sharpest decline in 30 years.
Aside from the Middle East, demand from the other major Asian countries grew consistently: Hong Kong (+11.2%) and China (+6.8%) are particularly noteworthy here.
In Latin America, Brazil in particular saw an increase of 17.8%.
The increase was broadly based on the import side too; at the same time, all key branches pursued their growth path seen since 2015.
The most striking increase in 2018 was recorded by jewellery (other goods), whose imports rose by two fifths and alone amounted to CHF 4.6 billion (mainly gold jewellery for smelting).
Imports of metals were up by a tenth. The largest group in terms of trade, chemical and pharmaceutical products, posted an increase of 7.3% (+3.4 bn), while imports of machinery and electronics rose by 5.5% (+1.7 bn). ■