Switzerland: Economic growth rises in the first quarter of 2026
GDP reading: Switzerland’s GDP grew 0.7% on a seasonally adjusted quarter-on-quarter basis in Q1, following 0.2% growth in the previous quarter. Q1’s reading was the strongest since Q1 2025. Adjusting for sporting events—which frequently skew Swiss GDP data due to the country hosting several major global sports organizations—GDP growth was a softer 0.4%. That said, this figure was still double the EU’s growth rate in the same period. A large positive contribution from net exports in Q1 offset sluggish domestic demand.
Drivers: Compared with the prior quarter’s data, the reading for government consumption improved in Q1 (+0.9% in seasonally adjusted quarter-on-quarter terms vs +0.2% in Q4). In contrast, readings softened for private consumption (0.0% vs +0.4% in Q4), fixed investment (-0.2% vs +0.6% in Q4), exports of goods and services (0.0% vs +2.0% in Q4) and imports of goods and services (-5.5% vs +3.2% in Q4).