Exports, port of Basel
Update 11:40 Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Switzerland officially moved out of recession in the third quarter of 2009, Bern announced Tuesday 1 December. Real GDP (gross domestic product) was up 0.3 percent compared to the previous quarter. Private consumption (+0.6 percent) and building investments both grew, and healthcare plus the financial and insurance industries also rose. Investments were up “massively”, with industrial goods investments rising by 5.5 percent.
The government’s own “consumption expenditure” rose by 1.3 percent.
Exports of goods and services both climbed, by 2.2 and 0.3 percent respectively, for the first time “after a considerable one-year slide” the government statement reports.
The trade and catering industry had a higher value added, good news given the lower figures for tourism in recent months.
Prices and export/import figures nevertheless remain essentially below their figures for Q3 2008, with DGP at 1.3 percent lower overeall. Imports showed a particularly strong decline, -8.2 percent, due mainly to falling energy prices.
Reuters reports Tuesday that the Swiss manufacturing industries are also rebounding, with the November PMI (purchasing managers’ index) at a 20-month high.
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News story, GenevaLunch, 1 December 2009.
Filed under: Business
Tags: exports, financial services, GDP, healthcare, imports, insurance, Q3 2009, quarterly report, recession, Swiss news, Switzerland, tourism