Archive:Switzerland-EU - international trade in goods statistics

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Data extracted in September 2017. Most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database. Planned article update: October 2018.

This article provides a picture of the international trade in goods between the European Union (EU) and Switzerland. It analyses the type of goods exchanged between the two economies and the shares of each EU Member State in those exchanges.

Figure 1a: The position of Switzerland among the world's largest traders, 2016
Source: Eurostat (ext_lt_introle)

Figure 1b: Top 25 exporters and importers in the world, 2016 (EUR billion)
Source: Eurostat (ext_lt_introle)

Figure 2: Evolution of trade of the EU-28 and Switzerland (2007 = 100) and cover ratio 2007 to 2016
Source: Eurostat (ext_lt_introle)

Figure 3: The position of Switzerland among the EU's main partners, 2017
Source: Eurostat (ext_lt_maineu)

Figure 4: Imports, exports and trade balance between the EU and Switzerland, 2008-2017 (EUR billion)
Source: Eurostat (ext_lt_maineu)

Figure 5: EU-28 exports to and imports from Switzerland by product group, 2008 and 2017 (EUR billion)
Source: Eurostat DS-018995

Figure 6: EU-28 imports, exports and trade balance with Switzerland by product group, 2008-2017 (EUR billion)
Source: Eurostat DS-018995

Figure 7: Most traded goods with Switzerland, top 20 of SITC level 3 products, 2017 (EUR billion)
Source: Eurostat DS-018995

Figure 8a: Imports from Switzerland by Member State, 2017
Source: Eurostat DS-018995

Figure 8b: Exports to Switzerland by Member State, 2017
Source: Eurostat DS-018995

Figure 8c: Trade balance with Switzerland by Member State, 2017 (EUR million)
Source: Eurostat DS-018995

Main statistical findings

In 2016, Switzerland was the 10th largest exporter of goods in the world with a share of 2.5 % of world exports and the 12th largest importer with a share of 2.1 % of world imports.
In 2016, among EU's trading partners, Switzerland was the third largest partner for EU imports and the fourth largest for EU exports in 2017.
EU trade balance with Switzerland, has been in surplus from 2007 to 2016, peaking at EUR 75 billion in 2013 before dropping to EUR 21 billion in 2016 but almost doubled to 41 billion in 2017.
Manufactured goods dominate both the exports of goods from the EU to Switzerland and imports from Switzerland to the EU, accounting for over 78 % of the total exports and 83 % of total imports.
In 2016, among EU Member States, Germany was the largest importer (EUR 43 billion) from Switzerland and the largest exporter (EUR 54 billion) to Switzerland.
Germany had the largest trade surplus with Switzerland (EUR 11 billion) while France had the largest trade deficit with Switzerland (EUR 1 billion).

EU and Switzerland in world trade in goods

Figure 1a shows that the four largest exporters account for almost half of the world exports. The largest is China (17 %) followed by the EU (16 %), the United States (12 %) and Japan (5 %). The same four also account for almost half of the world imports but in different order. Here the USA (18 %) leads, followed by the EU (15 %), China (12 %) and Japan (5 %).

Figure 1b has some more detail, showing the twenty largest exporters and importers in the world. Switzerland is the tenth largest exporter (EUR 275 billion), accounting for 2.5 % of world exports between Singapore (2.7 %, EUR 298 billion) and the United Arab Emirates (2.4 %, EUR 290 billion). Switzerland is the twelfth largest importer (EUR 243 billion) accounting for 2.1 % for world imports between the United Arab Emirates (2.1 %, EUR 245 billion) and Taiwan (1.8 %, EUR 209 billion).

Figure 2 focuses on the evolution of trade in the EU and Switzerland over the period 2007-2016. From 2007 to 2011the exports and imports (both indexed at 100 % in 2007) of both countries grew in a similar fashion. Between 2011 and 2013 Swiss exports and imports grew more rapidly than those of the EU. Swiss exports and imports fell in 2014 but grew again in 2015 and 2016. In 2016 both the index for exports and for imports peaked at 119 and 107 percentage points over their 2007 level, respectively. The cover ratio (exports divided by imports ) for Switzerland has been above 100 % since 2007 and always somewhat higher than that of the EU. The respective cover ratios for Switzerland and the EU in 2016 were 113 % and 102 %.

Switzerland is the EU's largest European partner for trade in goods

Figure 3 shows that in 2017, Switzerland had a share of 8 % in extra-EU exports (EUR 151 billion) and 6 % in extra-EU imports (EUR 110 billion). This meant that it was the EU's third largest partner for exports, behind the United States (EUR 376 billion) and China (EUR 198 billion) and followed by Russia (EUR 86 billion). In imports it was the fourth largest partner worldwide, behind the United States and China and Russia.

EU imports from Switzerland have been growing steadily since 2007 and were not much effected by the financial crisis. They fell somewhat between 2012 and 2013 but recovered since then, reaching EUR 122 billion in 2016 before dropping to EUR 110 billion in 2017. Although exports grew more than imports in the same period there were more fluctuations, with decreases in 2009, 2012, 2014 and 2016. They peaked in 2013 at almost EUR 170 billion, dropped to EUR 142 billion in 2016 but in 2017 grew to EUR 151 billion. The trade surplus also peaked in 2013 at 75 billion, dropping to 21 billion in 2016 before almost doubling in 2017 to EUR 40 billion.

Manufactured goods dominate trade with Switzerland

When breaking down imports and exports by SITC groups, the main categories driving the exports to and imports from Switzerland are 'Machinery and vehicles' (SITC 7), 'Chemicals' (SITC 5) and 'Other manufactured goods' (SITC 6&8). Together these manufactured goods accounted for around 78 % of the EU exports and 83 % of imports in 2017 (see Figure 5). In exports 'Other manufactured goods' were the largest group with 31 % while in imports 'Chemicals' accounted for 37 % of the total.

Figure 6 shows the evolution of EU imports and exports by SITC group since 2008. In 2017 the EU had a large trade deficit in 'Chemicals' (EUR 7 billion) and deficits in 'Other goods'. In all the other groups the EU had a surplus, which was largest in in 'Machinery and vehicles' (EUR 15 billion) closely followed by 'Other manufactured goods' (EUR 14 billion).

Most traded goods: non-monetary gold and medicaments

Figure 7 gives more details about the goods exchanged between the EU and Switzerland, showing the top 20 traded goods at a more detailed level (by SITC level 3). Those top 20 goods covered around 60 % of total traded goods in 2016. Ten products among the top 20 belong to 'Other manufactured goods' three each to 'Chemicals', 'Machinery and vehicles' and 'Other goods' and one to 'Energy'. The most trade product was non-monetary gold while the second and third most traded products were medicaments and medicinal and pharmaceutical products respectively.

Another interesting way to look at data is to investigate the export/import ratio of traded goods, in order to better identify the direction taken by flows and specialisation between the two areas. These ratios can be found in the right margin of Figure 8. For the top product, non-monetary gold, the ratio equals 74 meaning that the EU exports cover only 74 % of imports. Fifteen of the twenty products have ratios between 30 and 300 indicating that there are substantial trade flows in both directions. The highest cover ratios (corresponding to large trade surpluses for the EU) were found for cars and petroleum oils while the lowest (large trade deficit) was recorded for watches and clocks.

Germany is trading most with Switzerland

Table 8a shows Member States' imports from Switzerland and the share of the partner Switzerland in national extra-EU imports. Table 8b provides similar information but concerning Member States' exports to Switzerland.

There are four Member States whose imports from Switzerland in 2016 were higher than EUR 10 billion: the Germany (EUR 42 billion), United Kingdom (EUR 26 billion), France (EUR 16 billion) and Italy (EUR 11 billion). Together they accounted for 77 % of imports from Switzerland. Three countries had more than 10 % of their imports originating from Switzerland namely Austria (23 %), Germany (13 %) and France (10 %)

The four large importers from Switzerland were also the largest exporters to Switzerland again with Germany (EUR 50 billion) the largest, followed at some distance by Italy (EUR 19 billion), the United Kingdom (EUR 17 billion) and France (EUR 15 billion). Their combined share in total EU exports to Switzerland was 72 %. For six Member States Switzerland received at least 10 % of their total extra-EU exports. These were Austria, (18 %), Luxembourg , (17 %), the Netherland and Slovakia (both 11 %) and Italy and Germany (both 10 %).

Table 9c shows that 11 Member States had a trade deficit with Switzerland in 2016, ranging from just EUR 8 million for Cyprus to EUR 8 263 million for the United Kingdom. Italy (EUR 8 415 million), just ahead of Germany (EUR 8 415 million) had the largest trade surpluses while Ireland (EUR 4 809 million), the Netherlands (EUR 3 388 million) and the Czech Republic (EUR 1 060 million) also had trade surpluses of more than EUR 1 billion.

Data sources and availability

EU data is taken from Eurostat's COMEXT database. COMEXT is the reference database for international trade in goods. It provides access not only to both recent and historical data from the EU Member States but also to statistics of a significant number of third countries. International trade aggregated and detailed statistics disseminated via the Eurostat website are compiled from COMEXT data according to a monthly process.

Data are collected by the competent national authorities of the Member States and compiled according to a harmonised methodology established by EU regulations before transmission to Eurostat. For extra-EU trade, the statistical information is mainly provided by the traders on the basis of customs declarations.

EU data are compiled according to Community guidelines and may, therefore, differ from national data published by the Member States. Statistics on extra-EU trade are calculated as the sum of trade of each of the 28 EU Member States with countries outside the EU. In other words, the EU is considered as a single trading entity and trade flows are measured into and out of the area, but not within it.

Data for the other major traders are taken from the Comtrade database of the United Nations. Data availability differs among countries, therefore Figure 1 shows the latest common available year for all the main traders. For the calculation of shares the world trade is defined as the sum of EU trade with non-EU countries (source: Eurostat) plus the international trade of non-EU countries (source: IMF Dots database).

Methodology

According to the EU concepts and definitions, extra-EU trade statistics (trade between EU Member States and non-EU countries) do not record exchanges involving goods in transit, placed in a customs warehouse or given temporary admission (for trade fairs, temporary exhibitions, tests, etc.). This is known as ‘special trade’. The partner is the country of final destination of the goods for exports and the country of origin for imports.

Product classification

Information on commodities exported and imported is presented according to the Standard international trade classification (SITC). A full description is available from Eurostat’s classification server RAMON.

Unit of measure

Trade values are expressed in millions or billions (10⁹) of euros. They correspond to the statistical value, i.e. to the amount which would be invoiced in case of sale or purchase at the national border of the reporting country. It is called a FOB value (free on board) for exports and a CIF value (cost, insurance, freight) for imports.

Context

Trade is an important indicator of Europe’s prosperity and place in the world. The block is deeply integrated into global markets both for the products it sources and the exports it sells. The EU trade policy is an important element of the external dimension of the ‘Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth’ and is one of the main pillars of the EU’s relations with the rest of the world.

Because the 28 EU Member States share a single market and a single external border, they also have a single trade policy. EU Member States speak and negotiate collectively, both in the World Trade Organization, where the rules of international trade are agreed and enforced, and with individual trading partners. This common policy enables them to speak with one voice in trade negotiations, maximising their impact in such negotiations. This is even more important in a globalised world in which economies tend to cluster together in regional groups.

The openness of the EU’s trade regime has meant that the EU is the biggest player on the global trading scene and remains a good region to do business with. Thanks to the ease of modern transport and communications, it is now easier to produce, buy and sell goods around the world which gives European companies of every size the potential to trade outside Europe.

Further Eurostat information

Data visualisation

Main tables

International trade in goods (t_ext_go), see:

International trade in goods - long-term indicators (t_ext_go_lti)

International trade in goods - short-term indicators (t_ext_go_sti)

Database

International trade in goods (ext_go), see:

International trade in goods - aggregated data (ext_go_agg)

International trade in goods - long-term indicators (ext_go_lti)

International trade in goods - short-term indicators (ext_go_sti)

International trade in goods - detailed data (detail)

Full access to detailed statistics on international trade in goods (Comext), see:

EU trade since 1988 by SITC (DS-018995)

External links

European Commission