The Swiss economy shrank by 7.3 percent in the second quarter of 2020, the sharpest fall since records began in 1980, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs said on Monday as previous figures were revise
ZURICH (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th September, 2020) The Swiss economy shrank by 7.3 percent in the second quarter of 2020, the sharpest fall since records began in 1980, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs said on Monday as previous figures were revised.
"As the revised GDP data confirms, in the second quarter of 2020 Swiss GDP experienced its sharpest decline since the quarterly figures were first calculated in 1980 (-7.3%, pre-revision: -8.2%)," the secretariat said in a statement.
Manufacturing was one of the most severely impacted industries, as the fall in GDP was revised to 10.3 percent, having previously been recorded at 9 percent.
According to the revised statistics, private consumption slumped amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic by 8.1 percent and the export of goods and services fell by 6.5 percent and 15.3 percent, respectively.
Switzerland's chemical and pharmaceutical sector recorded modest growth of 0.3 percent in the second quarter of 2020, the secretariat added.
Since the start of the pandemic, 52,646 cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in Switzerland, resulting in the deaths of 1,780 people. On Monday, the Federal Office of Public Health announced that 782 new positive tests were registered over the preceding 24 hours.
