Switzerland's foreign trade surplus widens more than expected in November

Switzerland's Federal Customs Office released foreign trade figures for the month of November which showed Switzerland's foreign trade surplus increased in November, as imports fell faster than exports. State Secretariat for Economic Affairs' report showed Tuesday that Switzerland's trade surplus rose to CHF 3.6 billion in November from CHF 2.7 billion in October, beating economists' expectations for the surplus to climb to CHF 3.56 billion.

Exports from Switzerland fell year-on-year by a real, work-day adjusted 3.7 percent in November to 18.787 billion Swiss francs ($18.26 billion), the Federal Customs Office said on Tuesday. Exports reached their lowest level since September 2015. Imports declined 4.2 percent over the month. On an annual basis, exports and imports fell by 3.7 percent and 6.1 percent, respectively in November.

Details of the report showed that exports of chemicals, machinery and electronics are stagnating. Clock sales decreased by 194 million CHF in November. Car imports were up + 9% with the highest growth in the current year. Exports to Belgium are rising by 18 percent and those to China by 12 percent.

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