Swiss GDP remains flat in Q3, misses market expectations slightly

The gross domestic product (GDP) of Switzerland remained unchanged during the third quarter of this year, slightly missing market expectations as increase in investment was offset by net trade.

Switzerland registered flat growth after expanding 0.6 percent a quarter ago. The economy was forecast to grow 0.3 percent, data released by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs showed Friday. The year-on-year advance was also lower than expected at 1.3 percent from 2.0 percent previously.

Also, consumer spending increased 0.1 percent for the quarter with a decline in spending on housing and energy. There was also a small decline in government spending for the quarter. There was an increase of 0.5 percent in investment spending and there a recovery in construction spending following two successive quarterly declines.

There was a decline in exports of 0.2 percent for the quarter as imports advanced with the trade data having a negative overall impact on GDP. Equipment and software investment as well as construction investment climbed 0.5 percent each.

Meanwhile, exports of goods dropped 0.2 percent and that of services slid 0.8 percent. On the other hand, imports of goods rose 0.2 percent and services import remained flat.