This week, Switzerland’s Federal Statistical Office published the latest cantonal GDP figures. Switzerland’s overall GDP growth in 2019 was 1.2%. However there were wide cantonal differences.
The six fastest growing cantons in 2019 were Obwalden (+3.5%), Glarus (+3.2%), Zug (+2.7%), Basel-City (+2.6%), Luzern (+2.6%) and Valais (+2.5%). At the other end of the spectrum were the cantons of Basel-Landschaft (-0.1%), Nidwalden (-0.3%) and Zurich (-0.5%).
To some degree these regional patterns are reflected in differences in industry performances. Pharmaceuticals (+10.4%), banking (+3.1%) and healthcare (+3.0%) all performed well in 2019. By contrast machine production (-6.2%), wholesale trade (-2.4%) and head office activity (-4.5%) performed poorly.
The cantons with the highest GDP per capita remained the same. With CHF 200,000 Basel-City led, followed by Zug (163,000), Geneva (110,000) and Zurich (103,000). The cantons with the lowest GDP per head were Valais (58,000) and Uri (55,000). The average across Switzerland was just under CHF 85,000 (US$ 92,000) per person.
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