The Swiss Franc and the Swiss Economy: Updated evidence

Researchers reported that exports of Switzerland’s most sophisticated sectors such as chemicals and pharmaceuticals are price inelastic. They attribute this to the limited competition that advanced products face. Recently China has emerged as an export powerhouse in chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and other sectors. Using data up to 2026, this paper reports that Swiss export price elasticities have increased, even for chemical and pharmaceutical exports. Evidence also indicates that appreciations and declines in rest of the world stock returns depress Swiss stock returns in most sectors. Swiss GDP and stock prices have nevertheless held up well during the crisis-prone period beginning with the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Switzerland should focus on maintaining this resilience in the face of trade wars, continuous appreciations, energy price hikes, and other shocks.