Browse additional economic indicators and data sets, selected by Global Finance editors, to learn more about Switzerland economic outlook, debt to GDP ratio, international trade performance and population trends. Rankings of Switzerland best banks and safest banks are also available.
Basic Information
Government Type: Federal republic (formally a confederation)
Capital City: Bern
GDP & Economic Information
Macroeconomy & Sovereign Data
Central Bank |
Swiss National Bank |
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Currency |
Swiss francs (CHF) |
International Reserves |
USD 1,083.40 billion (2020) World Bank, last updated 12/16/2021 |
Gross Domestic Product – GDP |
USD 810.83 billion (2021 estimate) IMF – World Economic Outlook, October 2021 |
GDP (Purchasing Power Parity) |
USD 677.27 billion (2021 estimate) IMF – World Economic Outlook, October 2021 |
GDP Data
Real GDP growth |
2017: 1.7% 2018: 2.9% 2019: 1.2% 2020: -2.5% (Estimate) 2021: 3.7% (Estimate) |
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GDP per capita – current prices |
USD 93,515.48 (2021 estimate) IMF – World Economic Outlook, October 2021 |
GDP per capita – PPP |
USD 78,111.51 (2021 estimate) IMF – World Economic Outlook, October 2021 |
GDP (PPP) – share of world total |
0.47% (2021 estimate) IMF – World Economic Outlook, October 2021 |
GDP – composition by sector |
agriculture: 0.7% industry: 25.2% services: 71.3% (2020) |
Gross domestic expenditure on R&D; (% of GDP) |
3.2% (2017) |
Inflation |
2017: 0.5% 2018: 0.9% 2019: 0.4% 2020: -0.7% (Estimate) 2021: 0.4% (Estimate) |
Switzerland
Inflation & Debt
Inflation |
2017: 0.5% 2018: 0.9% 2019: 0.4% 2020: -0.7% (Estimate) 2021: 0.4% (Estimate) |
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Government Bond Ratings |
Standard & Poor’s: AAA Moody’s: AaaStandard & Poor’s / Moody’s (January 2022) |
Unemployment rate |
2017: 3.1% 2018: 2.5% 2019: 2.3% 2020: 3.1% (Estimate) 2021: 3.1% (Estimate) |
Household saving rates |
23.1% (2020) OECD, retrieved January 2022 |
Public debt (General government gross debt as a % of GDP) |
2017: 41.2% 2018: 39.2% 2019: 39.8% 2020: 42.4% (Estimate) 2021: 42.7% (Estimate) |
Public deficit (General government net lending/borrowing as a % of GDP) |
2017: 1.3% 2018: 1.4% 2019: 1.5% 2020: –2.7% (Estimate) 2021: –1.9% (Estimate) |
Market value of publicly traded shares |
USD 2,002 billion (2020) |
Largest Companies |
Nestlé, Roche Holding, Novartis, Zurich Insurance Group, UBS, Chubb, Credit Suisse Group, ABB, LafargeHolcim, Swiss Life Holding, Glencore International, Swiss Re, Swisscom, Kuehne & Nagel International, Richemont, STMicroelectronics, Schindler Holding, Sika, Julius Baer Group, TE Connectivity, Lonza Group, Givaudan, Bâloise Group, Alcon, Partners Group Holding, Garmin, Helvetia Holding, SGS, Logitech International, Geberit, Adecco, Coca-Cola HBC, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise, EMS-Chemie Holding, Lindt & Sprungli, Barry Callebaut, Swatch Group, Basler Kantonalbank, Luzerner Kantonalbank, Sonova Holding, ALSO Holding, EFG International Forbes Global 2000 (2021) |
Import/Export
Exports as percent of GDP (Exports of goods and services) |
62.3% (2020) World Bank – World Development Indicators (updated Feb 2022) |
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Shares in world total merchandising export |
1.8% (2020) |
Shares in world total commercial services export |
2.3% (2020) |
Total exports |
USD 470.9 billion (2020 estimate) |
Export commodities |
Gold, packaged medicines, medical cultures/vaccines, watches, jewelry (2019) |
Total imports |
USD 401.5 billion (2020 estimate) |
Import commodities |
Gold, packaged medicines, jewelry, cars, medical cultures/vaccines (2019) |
Exports – major partners |
Germany 16%, United States 14%, United Kingdom 8%, China 7%, France 6%, India 6%, Italy 5% (2019) |
Imports – major partners |
Germany 21%, Italy 8%, United States 6%, France 6%, United Kingdom 5%, United Arab Emirates 5% (2019) |
Competitiveness & Trade
Current account balance |
USD 58.5 billion (2021 estimate) IMF – World Economic Outlook, October 2021 |
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Current account balance by percentage of GDP |
7.2% (2021 estimate) IMF – World Economic Outlook, October 2021 |
FDI inflows |
2019: USD –68.3 billion 2020: USD –79.1 billion 2021: USD –47.2 billion |
FDI Outflows |
2019: USD 43.5 billion 2020: USD –43.7 billion 2021: USD –16.8 billion |
Value of cross-border M&A, by country of purchaser |
2018: USD 18.6 billion 2019: USD 34.6 billion 2020: USD 17.2 billion 2021: USD 14.9 billion |
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2014 | N/A |
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2015 | N/A |
Best countries for doing business |
Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business. A high ease of doing business ranking means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm. Overall ranking: 36 out of 190 countries (2020) Subcategories: Starting a Business: 81 out of 190 countries Dealing with Construction Permits: 71 out of 190 countries Getting Electricity: 13 out of 190 countries Registering Property: 18 out of 190 countries Getting Credit: 67 out of 190 countries Protecting Minority Investors: 105 out of 190 countries Paying Taxes: 20 out of 190 countries Trading across Borders: 26 out of 190 countries Enforcing Contracts: 57 out of 190 countries Resolving Insolvency: 49 out of 190 countries World Bank – Doing Business 2020 |
Global competitiveness ranking |
12 out of 141 (2019) World Economic Forum / Global competitiveness ranking |
Index of Economic Freedom |
Ranking: 2 / Score: 84.2 (Free) The Heritage Foundation – 2022 Index of Economic Freedom |
Population & Geographic Data
Time Zone |
UTC+1 |
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Total Area |
41,277 sq km |
Total Population |
1990: 6.7 million 2000: 7.2 million 2010: 7.8 million 2015: 8.3 million 2020: 8.6 million |
Urban population as % of total population |
1960: 70.9% 1980: 74.5% 2000: 73.4% 2020: 73.9% |
Population median age |
42.7 (2022 est.) |
Population growth rate |
0.65% (2022 est.) |
Life expectancy |
83.2 years (2022 est.) |
% of population living on less than $3.10 a day | 0% (last available estimate, 2018) |
Inequality of wealth distribution (Gini index) |
33.1 (last available estimate, 2018) (0=perfect equality, 100=absolute inequality) |
Freedom House rating |
Total score: 96/100 Status: Free Political Rights: 39/40 Civil Liberties: 57/60 (2022) |
Total telephone subscribers as % of population |
Fixed: 35.5% Mobile: 127.3% (2020) (fixed-telephone subscribers and mobile-cellular subscribers) |
Internet users as % of total population |
94.2% (2020) |
Language & Religon
Languages |
German (or Swiss German) (official) 62.1%, French (official) 22.8%, Italian (official) 8%, English 5.7%, Portuguese 3.5%, Albanian 3.3%, Serbo-Croatian 2.3%, Spanish 2.3%, Romansh (official) 0.5%, other 7.9%; note – German, French, Italian, and Romansh are all national and official languages; shares sum to more than 100% because respondents could indicate more than one main language (2019 est.) |
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Literacy |
N/A |
Religions |
Roman Catholic 34.4%, Protestant 22.5%, other Christian 5.7%, Muslim 5.5%, other 1.6%, none 29.5%, unspecified 0.8% (2019 est.) |
World Rankings
Population | 8.6 M |
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Mercer Cost of living index | N/A |
C02 Emissions per capita |
4.4 metric tons per capita (2018) |
Global Finance Rankings & Awards: Switzerland
Global Finance Magazine holds several conferences and awards ceremonies throughout the year to recognize the winning financial institutions and companies in a host of categories including World’s Best Trade Finance Banks, World's Biggest Banks, World's Safest Banks, World's Best Developed & Emerging Markets Banks, World's Best Internet Banks, and World’s Best Investment Banks.Data Sources:
IMF World Economic Outlook
UN World Population Prospects
World Inequality Report
S&P Global Ratings
Moody’s
Fitch Ratings
IMF Direction of Trade Statistics (DOTS)
UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
CIA The World Factbook
World Bank’s World Integrated Trade Solution
Forbes Global 2000