Switzerland officially entered a recession in the first quarter when its economy shrank by 0.8 percent from output in the previous quarter and exports fell sharply, official data showed yesterday.
“Negative growth impulses emanated in particular from the foreign trade sector,” the Swiss economy ministry said in a statement.
It also revised its GDP figure for the last three months of last year, saying that the economy had shrunk by 0.6 percent instead of 0.3 percent.
A recession is defined as two quarters of GDP contraction in a row.
SHARPER
On a 12-month comparison, Swiss GDP fell even more sharply, down 2.4 percent in the first quarter compared to the same period last year.
Analysts had forecast a 12-month contraction of up to two percent, Swiss financial news agency AWP said.
The contraction was caused mainly by weakness in exports, which fell 5.4 percent.
Exports of goods were particularly hit, down 6.6 percent while exports of services fell 2.3 percent.
Imports for the same period were unchanged compared with the previous quarter.
‘GOOD NEWS’
Bernard Lambard, Bank Picte’’s economist took a positive view of the latest GDP figure, describing it as “less serious than expected and it’s mostly good news.”
“What stands out is that the contraction is much more moderate than the rest of Europe and especially Germany, which confirms that Switzerland is not doing so badly,” he said.
However, Lambert said that Switzerland’s recession often worsens later than other countries.
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