contents
In the second quarter, the economy grew by 0.3 percent compared to the first. The Seco speaks of a recovery at a reduced pace.
People are going to restaurants again instead of shopping and eating at home. You continue to vacation in Switzerland. In addition, more guests from abroad are coming to Swiss hotels. The hospitality industry has benefited from all of this.
The picture in industry is different. Their exports abroad have declined somewhat – for example those of the pharmaceutical and chemical industries. However, things still went well in the second quarter – despite a stronger Swiss franc. The construction industry, however, developed sluggishly; here, the internationally high raw material costs as a damper and the shortage of skilled workers made themselves felt.
0.3 percent more economic growth
Such and similar developments in the economy can be read from the GDP figures published by Seco on Monday. The raw numbers are: Plus 0.3 percent economic growth in the second quarter, as measured by gross domestic product (GDP); after plus 0.5 percent in the previous quarter.
This shows that many of the economic changes are so-called “catch-up effects”. They arose because the measures against the corona virus were largely lifted by April. In the winter they had still pressed on consumption. So consumption supported the economy in the second quarter. Even the rising prices could not do much to dampen the willingness to spend.
Compared to the second quarter of last year, the gross domestic product grew by 2.8 percent and thus less strongly than in the first quarter. So the recovery has slowed noticeably.