Swiss GDP grew slightly in the fourth quarter

According to the report from the Federal Statistical Office, Switzerland’s GDP growth slowed to 0.3 % in the 4th quarter after reaching 7.6 % in the 3rd quarter.1 Major losses were recorded in the services directly affected by the tightening of the containment measures. Other industries continued to recover. On the whole, the second wave of the coronavirus until the end of 2020 had much less of an impact on the economy than the first wave did last spring. Economic recovery was interrupted in certain sectors during the 4th quarter. In Switzerland, capacity restrictions and business closures were ordered to contain the coronavirus. International travel also declined sharply, which was detrimental to tourism. Value added in accommodation and food services (–20.8 %), as well as in arts, entertainment and recreation (–7.7 %), fell considerably after the temporary easing of restrictions during the summer months. This was also true in transport and communications (–0.5 %), where the decrease in value added reflected the reduction in mobility among the Swiss public. Finally, a decline was reported in healthcare and social work (–0.7 %). The decreases in these sectors are therefore far less severe than those experienced in spring 2020. Nonetheless, the economy is still feeling the impact of the second wave of the coronavirus and the measures implemented to contain it in the 1st quarter of 2021.

Private consumption contracted considerably (–1.5 %) in the 4th quarter. While spending on hospitality and leisure services slumped, expenditure on food and other goods such as electronics rose. All in all, private consumption fell less sharply than it did during the 1st quarter at the start of the pandemic, despite the second wave of the coronavirus. As such, trade (+1.5 %) posted a positive result for the quarter. 

According to the available provisional results, real GDP shrank by 2.9% in 2020, much more severely than at the time of the financial crisis in 2009 (−2.1 %). An even sharper decline was recorded in 1975, in the wake of the oil crisis.