As the Federal Statistical Office (BFS) announced on Friday, total output in the secondary sector of the economy, namely industry and construction, from July to September increased by 3.4 percent compared to the same period last year.
In fact, sales in the construction and industrial sectors increased by 7.6 percent in the third quarter. However, more than half of this increase is due to price increases. Many companies are currently raising their selling prices to offset rising raw material and energy prices.
FSO announced that growth in terms of both production and sales has been uninterrupted since the first quarter of 2021.
In industry alone, production continued to grow strongly in the third quarter, up 5.2 percent. It increased by 0.1 percent in July, 5.2 percent in August and 11.4 percent in September.
Sales of Swiss industrial companies increased even more sharply during the reporting period; increased by 9.5 percent. Sales also increased, most notably in September, with an increase of 14.8 percent.
The construction industry is less dynamic. Production here decreased by 6.5 percent from July to September. Both building construction (-5.9%) and civil engineering (-13.7%) experienced declines in production.
Turnover in the construction sector is not looking so depressing yet, with a 0.2 percent decrease compared to the same quarter of the previous year. In particular, civil engineering experienced a minus 9.5 percent, while sales in building construction increased by 0.4 percent.
(SDA)