Calculations

Foreign trade indices

The Swiss foreign trade statistics do not just represent its foreign trade in absolute measurements (value in CHF and quantity in kg) but also in the form of indices. These split the nominal development into price and volume components. These indices allow a statement to be made on the real (i.e. price-adjusted) development of foreign trade. The methodology for this calculation can be found in the methodological manual.

• Foreign trade indices – Methodological manual (PDF, 742 kB, 01.03.2018)

Seasonal and working day adjustment

The aim of seasonal adjustment is to identify and eliminate regular and mechanical variations. The impact of working days and public holidays is also taken into consideration. Subsequently, series can be properly compared over time and results can be duly interpreted, particularly with regard to short-term trends. The methodology for this calculation can be found in the methodological manual.

• Seasonal and working day adjustment of Swiss foreign trade data (PDF, 563 kB, 11.01.2018) 

Estimates: electricity

The definitive electricity data is available three months after the monthly report it corresponds to. For this reason and until the actual data is available, the import and export results are estimated according to the four neighbouring countries (using a short-term forecast provided by the Swiss Economic Institute of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich [KOF/ETH]). These value and quantity (in kWh) estimates are based on seasonal ARIMA models.