ZURICH, Switzerland — Switzerland’s exports fell by 11 percent in November, reversing an October rebound, largely on a slide in demand for pharmaceutical products, Swiss customs authorities announced on Thursday.
Exports from the Alpine nation came in at 21.7 billion Swiss francs (23.2 billion euros), below 22 billion for the first time since March, the officials said.
Imports, meanwhile, dropped 3.6 percent on the previous month to 17.7 billion, leaving a trade surplus for the period to drop to just under 3.96 billion francs, compared to 5.99 billion in October.
Exports from the pharmaceuticals and chemicals sector plummeted by 15.2 percent over October, fueled by a sharp fall in demand both for active ingredients and raw materials.
The fall was 8.3 percent for machinery, and electrical and electronic equipment, Switzerland’s second-largest export after pharmaceuticals.
Switzerland’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by just 0.2 percent in the third quarter, following 0.4 percent in the second quarter, on a decline in industrial exports, notably by machine-tool manufacturers and metals sector firms.
Drops in orders from Germany in particular were pronounced with the strength of the Swiss franc also weighing on exports.
Exports had slipped slightly in the first quarter before recovering strongly in the second, on healthy demand for pharmaceuticals only to turn back into the red in the third quarter.
On Tuesday, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs lowered its GDP forecast for 2024 to 0.9 percent compared with a previous 1.2-percent estimate, mainly thanks to lower expectations for exports of merchandise.
However, the government is forecasting a rise of 3.8 percent for services exports, over 2.3 percent.
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