Economy of Switzerland
Economy of Switzerland
Currency
Swiss Franc (CHF)
Fiscal year
Calendar year
Trade
Organisations
OECD, WTO, EFTA, JEC
Statistics
GDP Ranking
(2007)
36th [1]
GDP (2008)
CHF532.1
$491.2 current
$319.2 PPP billion [2]
GDP growth
rate (2008)
3.9% nominal
2.5% per capita nomin-
al
1.6% real
0.2% per capita real
GDP per Cap-
ita (2008)
CHF69,496
$64,150 current
$41,686 PPP
GDP by sector
(2008)
primary (1.1%)
industry (21.6%)
construction (5.1)
services (72.2%)
GDP structure
(2008)
Private consumption
(57.6%)
Public consumption
(10.7%)
Investments (21.4%)
Export (56.2%)
Import (45.8%)
Inflation rate
2008 2.4%, 4/2009
-0.3% [3]
Pop below
poverty line
(2005)
4.8 %[4]
Employed Pop-
ulation(Q2
2008)
4.506mio [5]
Employed Pop-
ulation by oc-
cupation Q4
2008)
primary (3.9%)
secondary (23.1%)
tertiary (73.0%) [6]
Unemployment
rate
2008 2.6%, 4/2009
3.5%[7]
2008 3.5%, Q4 2008
3.6%[8]
Main
Industries
machinery, chemicals,
watches, textiles, preci-
sion instruments
Trading Partners
Total exports
2008 $276.3 billion
(56.2% of GDP)
Main Partners
(2007 est)
Germany 20.8%, US
9.3%, Italy 8.9%,
France 8.4%, UK 4.8%
Total imports
2008 $225.3 billion
(45.8% of GDP)
Main Partners
(2007 est)
Germany 33.9%, Italy
11.2%, France 9,71%,
US 5.1%, Netherlands
4.8%, Austria 4.4%, UK
3.9%,
Current ac-
count balance
2008
$45.5 billion (9.3% of
GDP) [9]
Public Finances
Total Public
Debt (2008)
40.5% of GDP [10]
Revenues
(2007)
37.66% of GDP [11]
Expenses
(2007)
35.53% of GDP [12]
Budget Bal-
ance (2007)
+2.03% of GDP [13]
Economic Aid
(ODA) (2008)
CHF2.21 billion (0.41%
of GDP) [14]
The economy of Switzerland is one of the
world’s most stable economies. Its policy of
long-term monetary
security
and bank
secrecy has made Switzerland a safe haven
for investors, creating an economy that is in-
creasingly dependent on a steady tide of for-
eign investment. Because of the country’s
small size and high labour specialisation, in-
dustry and trade are the keys to Switzer-
land’s economic livelihood. Switzerland has
achieved one of th