Economy - overview Switzerland, a fundamentally prosperous and stable modern economy witha per capita GDP roughly 10% above that of the big West European economies, is experiencing continued economic difficulties. GDP has dropped for fiveconsecutive quarters, unemployment is reaching record levels, and the fiscaldeficit is again above 3% of GDP. In 1997, growth may reach barely 0.6%; arecovery is not likely before mid to late 1997. Weak domestic consumer demandis partly at fault; declining real disposable income is combining with a reluctanceto reduce saving rates in the face of an uncertain employment outlook. Switzerland'sleading sectors, including financial services, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals,and special-purpose machines, will therefore be more reliant on export marketsat the same time they are being squeezed by the strong franc. Consequently,growth in machinery and equipment investment, for example, is expected totaper off. On the other side, import growth in 1997 also is likely to be lowerthan the 1995 rate of 6.6%, but higher than 1996's expected 1.9%.

GDP purchasing power parity - $161.3 billion (1996 est.)

GDP - real growth rate -0.75% (1996 est.)

GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $22,600 (1996 est.)

GDP - composition by sector
agriculture: 2.8%
industry: 31.1%
services: 66.1% (1995)

Inflation rate - consumer price index 0.8% (1996)

Labor force
total: 3.776 million (939,000 foreign workers, mostly Italian)
by occupation: services 67%, manufacturing and construction 29%, agriculture and forestry4% (1994)

Unemployment rate 5.3% (December 1996)

Budget
revenues: $31 billion
expenditures : $36.9 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1995)

Industries machinery, chemicals, watches, textiles, precision instruments

Industrial production growth rate -2% (1996 est.)

Electricity - capacity 14.27 million kW (1994)

Electricity - production 62.2 billion kWh (1995)

Electricity - consumption per capita 6,810 kWh (1995 est.)

Agriculture - products grains, fruits, vegetables; meat, eggs

Exports
total value: $81.35 billion (f.o.b., 1995)
commodities: manufactures 94.74%, agricultural products 2.99%, raw materials 2.05%,fuels 0.15% (1995)
partners: EU countries 62.1%, US 8.7%, Japan 4.0% (1996 est.)

Imports
total value : $80.05 billion (c.i.f., 1995)
commodities: manufactures 86.81%, agricultural products 6.44%, raw materials 3.65%,fuels 2.93% (1995)
partners: EU 80.2%, US 6.6% (1996 est.)

Debt - external $NA

Economic aid
donor: ODA, $1.034 billion (1995)

Currency 1 Swiss franc, franken, or franco (SFR) = 100 centimes, rappen, or centesimi

Exchange rates Swiss francs, franken, or franchi (SFR) per US$1 - 1.3936 (January 1997),1.2360 (1996), 1.1825 (1995), 1.3677 (1994), 1.4776 (1993), 1.4062 (1992)

Fiscal year calendar year

NOTE: The information regarding Switzerland on this page is re-published from the 1997 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Switzerland Economy 1997 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Switzerland Economy 1997 should be addressed to the CIA.