Specifically, the gross domestic product (GDP) rose in the period from April to June 2021 compared to the previous quarter by 1.8 percent, as the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (Seco) announced on Thursday. The number for the first quarter was also revised upwards slightly to -0.4 from -0.5 percent.
Compared to the previous year or the second quarter of the Corona year 2020, the increase of +7.7 percent is even massive. As is well known, the Swiss economy declined sharply, especially in the period from April to June 2020, due to the first lockdown, which has now led to strong year-on-year growth. Overall, the economy shrank by 2.4 percent last year.
As Seco continues to write in today’s press release, value added in the service sector rose significantly in the reporting quarter after the corona measures were eased from the second wave. Consumption also recovered strongly. Industry also grew, albeit less strongly than in the previous quarters. Overall, GDP in the second quarter was only 0.5 percent below the pre-crisis level of the fourth quarter of 2019, according to Seco data.
However, the GDP increase in the second quarter does not come as a surprise and was in line with expectations. Economists surveyed by AWP had seen the development compared to the previous quarter at +1.5 to +2.2 percent. The value that has now been realized was thus pretty much in the middle of the estimates.
In the first two months of the third quarter, which has already been running for two months, the economy is likely to have continued to grow significantly, according to the known indicators. The figures for the entire quarter will not be published until the end of November.