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Switzerland's Top Imports & Exports 2008

Billion-dollar Swiss Imports Include Gold and Precious Metals

© Daniel Workman

Oct 1, 2009
Swiss Imports of US Non-Monetary Gold, BullionVault (Flickr)
Switzerland exported US$2.5 billion worth of jewelry including its famous Swiss watches to America last year, up 6.1% from 2007.

Generating a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) valued at US$492.6 billion, Switzerland was the world’s 21st richest country in 2008.

With a population of 7.6 million Swiss citizens who enjoyed an average GDP of $40,900 per person last year, Switzerland was also the 17th wealthiest nation in terms of GDP per capita.

As the world’s 19th biggest exporter, Switzerland shipped $233.1 billion worth of exports in 2008. Principal Swiss exports were machinery, chemicals, metals, watches and agricultural products. Based on 2008 statistics, Switzerland’s largest export clients were Germany (21.2%), the United States (8.7%), France (8.2%), Italy (7.9%) and Austria (4.5%).

According to the CIA World Factbook, Switzerland imported $213 billion worth of foreign goods last year. Major commodities imported into Switzerland include machinery, chemicals, vehicles, metals, agricultural products and textiles. Leading suppliers to Switzerland were Netherlands (19.5%), Germany (17.3%), France (11%), the United Kingdom (5.7%), the United States (5.5%) and China (4.1%).

In total, Switzerland’s international trade amounted to $446.1 billion or 90.6% in relation to its overall GDP. This compares with roughly 25% for the U.S. and 60% for Canada.

Swiss Trade with the U.S.

Last year, Swiss exports to America rose 20.5% to $17.8 billion. Over that same period, Switzerland bought $22 billion worth of U.S. imports – an increase of 29.3%.

Therefore, Switzerland’s trade deficit with the U.S. came to $4.2 billion in 2008.

The lists below present the top 10 exports and imports that American and Swiss enterprises exchanged in 2008. The fastest-growing trade product categories are also shown.

Switzerland’s Top Exports to America

Among the top 10 Swiss exports shipped to the U.S. in 2008, only 2 of the leading product categories exceed $1 billion in sales and account for 36.9% of the total shipment value from Switzerland to America. Nine product categories had positive percentage gains ranging from 4.8% to 172%. Only industrial organic chemicals experienced a decline, which were down 9.9%.

  1. Medicinal, dental and pharmaceutical preparations … US$4 billion, up 40.9% from 2007 (22.6% of US imports from Switzerland)
  2. Jewelry including Swiss watches … $2.5 billion, up 6.1% (14.3%)
  3. Other household goods including clocks … $863.9 million, up 28.7% (4.9%)
  4. Other hospital, medical and scientific equipment … $848.2 million, up 19.5% (4.8%)
  5. Other industrial machinery … $547.3 million, up 4.8% (3.1%)
  6. Finished metal shapes except steel … $519.4 million, up 172% (2.9%)
  7. Soft beverages and processed coffee … $495.6 million, up 168.5% (2.8%)
  8. Electric apparatus … $467.6 million, up 6.3% (2.63%)
  9. Machine tools… $455.7 million, up 22.8% (2.56%)
  10. Industrial organic chemicals … $405.8 million, down 9.9% (2.3%).

Fastest-Growing Swiss Exports to the U.S.

Six of the 10 fastest-growing Swiss exports experienced triple-digit percentage gains in 2008, while the other 4 product categories were up by double-digits.

  1. Agricultural machinery and equipment … US$34.4 million, up 268% from 2007
  2. Non-monetary gold … $75.1 million, up 264%
  3. Finished metal shapes except steel … $519.4 million, up 172%
  4. Soft beverages and processed coffee … $495.6 million, up 168.5%
  5. Unmanufactured steelmaking materials … $5.4 million, up 149.3%
  6. Food oils and oilseeds … $5.2 million, up 107%
  7. Numismatic collectible coins … $57.5 million, up 89.7%
  8. Civilian aircraft … $272.8 million, up 80%
  9. Semiconductors … $180.3 million, up 72.9%
  10. Gem diamonds … $383.1 million, up 60.1%.

Switzerland’s Top Imports from America

Five of the top 10 export product categories for US shipments to Switzerland exceeded $1 billion in 2008 and account for 68.3% of the total value of American shipments to Switzerland.

  1. Non-monetary gold … US$8.5 billion, up 43.3% from 2007 (38.7% of US exports to Switzerland)
  2. Pharmaceutical preparations … $2.9 billion, up 7.1% (10%)
  3. Precious metals excluding gold … $1.8 billion, up 226.7% (8.1%)
  4. Collectibles (antiques, artwork, stamps) … $1.5 billion, down 10.6% (6.7%)
  5. Civilian aircraft … $1.1 billion, up 86.4% (4.8%)
  6. Gem diamonds … $888.7 million, up 21.4% (4%)
  7. Jewelry … $720.1 million, down 16.1% (3.3%)
  8. Other household goods … $589.8 million, up 5.7% (2.7%)
  9. Medicinal equipment … $353.9 million, down 2.7% (1.6%)
  10. Organic chemicals … $219.5 million, up 76.5% (1.2%).

Switzerland's imports of unmanufactured tobacco from the U.S. were $219.5 million in 2008, just behind organic chemicals.

Fastest-Growing Swiss Imports from the U.S.

Shipments of nuclear fuel materials to Switzerland rose 1,190% in 2008, while 9 other fast-growing American exports to Switzerland posted triple-digit percentage gains last year.

  1. Nuclear fuel materials … US$31.4 million, up 1,190% from 2007
  2. Aircraft launching gear… $10.9 million, up 674.8%
  3. Food oils and oil seeds … $4.6 million, up 450.9%
  4. Manufactured tobacco… $5.2 million, up 377.4%
  5. Steelmaking materials … $30.9 million, up 288.8%
  6. Oilfield and drilling equipment … $7 million, up 250.5%
  7. Other precious metals … $1.8 billion, up 226.7%
  8. Specialized mining equipment … $7.6 million, up 194.1%
  9. Household goods including furniture … $12.2 million, up 179.3%
  10. Inorganic chemicals … $33.8 million, up 164.6%.

Comparative Trade Advantages

During 2008, Switzerland exported $2.5 billion worth of jewelry including world-famous Swiss watches to the U.S. while importing $720.1 million worth of jewelry from America.

These Swiss-American trade statistics show that Switzerland has comparative advantages over the U.S. in trading jewelry bolstered by those Swiss watches.

On the other hand, America exported $1.1 billion worth of civilian aircraft to Switzerland in 2008 contrasted with U.S. imports of Swiss civilian aircraft worth $272.8 million.

That the U.S. exported more than 4 times the value of Swiss civilian aircraft clearly shows that America has a comparative advantage in exporting civilian aircraft to Switzerland.

Sources

This analysis is based on latest statistics from the US Census Bureau- Foreign Trade Statistics and CIA World Factbook as of the date of article publication.


The copyright of the article Switzerland's Top Imports & Exports 2008 in Import/Export is owned by Daniel Workman. Permission to republish Switzerland's Top Imports & Exports 2008 in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.


Swiss Imports of US Non-Monetary Gold, BullionVault (Flickr)
Swiss Exports of Jewelry Including Swiss Watches, 121 TIME SWISS MADE WATCHES (Flickr)
Swiss Imports of US Unmanufactured Tobacco, danellesheree (Flickr)
US Exports of Civilian Aircraft to Switzerland, Joi Ito (Flickr)
Swiss Exports of Agricultural Machinery, Bob Nichols (Wikimedia)


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