Economy

Switzerland's economy is based mainly on manufacturing and foreign trade and also on tourism and international business and commerce. Except during periods of worldwide recession, it is a strong and thriving economy, one that requires hundreds of thousands of resident foreign workers in addition to the Swiss.

Manufacturing has gained its prominent position mainly because of the ability of the Swiss to make specialized products that readily find worldwide markets. By its exports Switzerland pays for many imports—virtually all raw materials, many manufactured goods, and much of its food supply. Economic development has also been aided by an abundant supply of hydroelectric power and by the country's neutrality, which allowed Switzerland to escape the ravages of two world wars.

On a per capita basis, the Swiss gross domestic product is usually one of the highest, if not the highest, in the world. Switzerland has very little unemployment and strikes are quite rare.

The Swiss government, in general, follows a policy of minimum interference in the economy. The agricultural sector, where prices are maintained at a rather high level, is the major exception.

Virtually all the major manufacturing industries specialize in high-value items and are geared primarily for export. The chief products are machinery, chemicals, watches, and textiles.

The machinery industry is the largest industry in Switzerland in value of exports. It includes the making of textile and printing machinery, turbines, electric locomotives, marine diesel engines, trucks and buses, machine tools, scientific and technical instruments, and electronic products. The industry, as a whole, centers mainly in the northern German-speaking cities, particularly in or near Zürich, Winterthur, Baden, Schaffhausen, and Basel. Closely allied is the metallurgical industry, in which a broad range of metals are processed.

The chemical industry, second in importance, produces a wide variety of industrial and agricultural specialty products, among which are dyes, pharmaceuticals, and plastics. Basel is the chief center.

Watches and clocks have long been a valuable Swiss product. Almost all are made for export. The watchmaking industry, though fairly widespread, is concentrated in the French-speaking areas of the west, especially the cities of Geneva, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Le Locle, Neuchâtel, and Biel. The textile industry, located mainly in the north and northeast, yields high-quality cotton, wool, linen, silk, and rayon and other synthetic fabrics. Specialties include embroidery items and ribbons. Other notable industries are food processing, the graphic arts, woodworking, and the making of clothing, shoes, paper, and paper products.

are extremely important sectors of the economy. Together, they usually more than offset Switzerland's deficit in foreign trade, allowing the country to have a favorable balance of payments.

The entire country is popular with tourists in spring, summer, and autumn. In winter, skiing and other sports in the Alps are the main attractions. Among the best-known mountain resorts are St. Moritz, Davos, and Zermatt.

Switzerland ranks among the world's leading nations in international banking and finance, mainly because of its political stability and neutrality, the strength of the Swiss franc, and the rigid secrecy of its banks. Secrecy is particularly important for it attracts vast amounts of foreign money into numbered accounts from people all over the world. The money is invested domestically and abroad, mainly through large commercial banks centered in Zürich, Basel, Bern, and Geneva.

Many Swiss insurance companies, with branch offices throughout the world, specialize in transportation insurance and reinsurance. The Zürich stock exchange is the largest in Switzerland and one of the most important in Europe.

Although greatly limited by climate and terrain, agriculture is significant. It engages about 6 per cent of the Swiss working population, provides valuable exports, and meets about half of the nation's domestic food requirements. In general, the numerous farms are family-owned and extremely small.

Swiss agriculture concentrates on dairying and the production of fodder crops. Both are well suited to the climate and the terrain. Together, they account for most of the productive farmland. On high Alpine meadows, dairying and the grazing of livestock are the only kinds of farming that can be practiced.

By far the most valuable product is milk. Most is used for making cheese, butter, condensed and powdered milk, and milk chocolate. Because of their high quality, Swiss dairy products find ready foreign markets. Among the best known are Emmentaler (Swiss) and Gruyère cheese. In addition to dairy cattle, the Swiss raise many hogs and chickens, but relatively few beef cattle.

On the cultivated land, which is primarily on the plateau, the chief crops are cereals, mainly wheat and barley. Also significant are potatoes, sugar beets, and a variety of other vegetables. In many areas there are extensive wine-grape vineyards and orchards—mainly apple, pear, plum, and cherry.

Despite the ruggedness of much of the terrain, Switzerland has a comprehensive transportation system that links the major places on the plateau and the remote mountain areas. In the Alps are hundreds of bridges and tunnels.

The Swiss Federal Railways system, which is government-owned and entirely electrified, ranks among the finest in Europe. Numerous short lines are owned and operated privately or by the various cantons and municipalities.

Switzerland's roads are modern and well-constructed but tend to be overcrowded. A system of expressways, chiefly on the plateau, is maintained by the federal government. The other primary highways, and all secondary highways, are maintained by the cantons.

Basel is Switzerland's only large inland port. It serves mainly barges on the Rhine, one of the busiest inland waterways in the world. Besides a barge fleet, the Swiss also have an oceangoing merchant marine, begun during World War II. Passenger steamers operate on most of the larger lakes.

Scores of international airlines serve Switzerland, principally through the airports in or near Zürich, Geneva, and Basel. Swissair, the national airline, provides domestic and worldwide flights.

Postal, telephone, and telegraph services are federally owned and operated. The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, which is federally licensed and controlled, provides television broadcasts in German, French, and Italian, and radio broadcasts in German, French, Italian, and Romansch.