(08.06.2022) At the start of the year, all signs were on the up for Swiss industry. Production in the first quarter of 2022 rose by 7.9% year-on-year, according to figures from the Federal Statistical Office (FSO).
The first three months of 2022 closed with an increase in production: 5.1% in January, 15.4% in February, and 4.2% in March. The textile and clothing, and pharmaceutical industries were particularly buoyant with 16.7% and 15.5% growth rates in the first quarter of 2022, respectively, compared with the same period in 2021.
However, declines were reported in other sectors, notably mining and quarrying (-7.7%) which recorded its sharpest drop since the first quarter of 2020 (-11.3%). In the energy sector, production retracted by 9.3% year-on-year. In 2021, a decrease of -0.2% had already been observed between the first quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021, but to a lesser extent.
Construction, meanwhile, experienced a decline in production volume (-0.5%), bringing total growth in the secondary sector to 6.9%. This put the brakes on the sector's growth observed in the second, third and fourth quarters of 2021. The building sub-sector is leveling off at +0.2%, while the civil engineering sub-sector has fallen to -3.8%.
Sales figures for the first quarter of 2022 showed growth of 11.1% in industry and 3.3% in construction. Here too, the building sub-sector is in the lead with a +5.3% increase on the previous year, while civil engineering has seen a slight decline of 1.9% over the same period.
Last modification 08.06.2022
