Basically, foreign trade covers the international movement of goods, i.e. the import, export and transit of goods.
What is covered by Swiss foreign trade statistics?
Are services also contained in the foreign trade statistics of the Federal Customs Administration?
No. In accordance with the concept for foreign trade statistics, services are not covered by the Federal Customs Administration (FCA). The Swiss National Bank (SNB) publishes statistics on international trade in services.
How far back do the figures for foreign trade statistics go?
The oldest figures date back to 1847, and are only available in book form. Electronic data is available from 1988 onwards.
Do I have to pay anything for foreign trade statistics data or publications?
All publications and tables can be accessed free of charge on the internet. In contrast, there is a series of specific products and services which are subject to a charge.
What does it mean when certain results are only provisional?
During the current year and up to the middle of May of the following year, the foreign trade statistics data is corrected (subsequent data entries, adjustments, etc.). Only after this point in time can the results be considered to be final.
How are the foreign trade statistics subdivided and in what form are they available?
The foreign trade statistics are subdivided into national and international nomenclatures (directories), according to goods groups, industry sectors (branches), countries (groups and continents), cantons and transport sectors. The results are in part available as downloads or can be ordered directly from us.
Can I receive data on imports/exports at the level of individual firms/companies?
No. For legal reasons (data protection), the FCA is not allowed to provide third parties with information on the companies involved. This also includes merely disclosing the names of companies.
Are there also foreign trade statistics available based on real evolution (i.e. inflation-adjusted)?
Yes. The foreign trade index breaks down the nominal evolution into price and volume components. It thus allows a statement to be made on the real development of foreign trade for the overall total or all product groups according to the nature of goods or to the broad economic categories.
Is foreign trade data also available according to the NOGA nomenclature?
Yes. The data is available from 2016 on. See: Economic sectors (NOGA)
Where can export data on war material be found?
As of 2016, the results for Switzerland's war material exports are published exclusively by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO).
Why do the foreign trade statistics not correspond to the import/export figures in the system of national accounts?
Border crossing is the relevant criterion for the FCA's foreign trade statistics, whereas the national accounts and the balance of payments are concerned with change of ownership. Internationally these two divergent definitions are the rule. The boarding crossing criterion meets the UN standards (International Merchandise Trade Statistics IMTS) and change of ownership meets the standards of the International Monetary Fund (Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual BPM). The Federal Statistical Office explains how foreign trade statistics are converted into the results of the system of national accounts in a methodological note.
