Covid-19: Switzerland is also entering a recession

Switzerland is not immune to the economic disaster generated by the Covid-19 pandemic. In the second quarter, its GDP recorded a historic drop of 8.2%. And as activity was down 2.5% at the start of the year, the country is now in recession, according to the current definition.

Exports of goods, in particular watches and machinery, suffered, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) said. Services, affected by the implementation of measures to combat the epidemic, are even more affected: added value has plummeted by 54.2% in hotels and restaurants and more than 21% in transport. As for household spending, penalized by the closing of stores, they fell by 8.6%.

Read also: How does Switzerland manage to post such a low unemployment rate despite the crisis?

Pharmaceuticals, a sector that weighs heavily in the trade balance, however, slowed down the fall in GDP. “The Swiss economy weathered the crisis comparatively well in the first half of the year,” says David Oxley, economist at Capital Economics.

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