Third quarter Swiss GDP figures released yesterday show Switzerland’s economy shrank compared to the quarter before.
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GDP for the quarter to September was down by 0.2% compared to the quarter before, ending an 18-month run of quarterly growth.
The fall in Swiss GDP follows a quarterly slowdown across the rest of Europe, in Germany in particular. A fall in the output of Germany’s automotive sector has had a knock on effect in Switzerland. Swiss manufacturing output, which includes industries reliant on automotive, was down by 0.6% in the third quarter.
Another sector feeling the pinch was energy1, which fell by 2.2% in the third quarter compared to the quarter before. A dry summer cut hydroelectric power generation.
Swiss Meteo expects summer heatwaves like the one this year every 5 to 10 years assuming a middle greenhouse gas emission scenario.
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1 Energy, waste, teaching and health make up about 10% of Swiss GDP.
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