Switzerland’s trade surplus smallest since April

Switzerland reported a trade surplus in the amount of CHF 4.1 billion in July, compared to a revised down CHF 4.7 billion surplus in June.

It has been the smallest trade surplus since April.

The nation’s total exports went down 2.7% month-over-month to CHF 22.5 billion in July. The latter reflected lower shipments of:

– vehicles (-4.8%);
– chemical-pharmaceutical products (-4.3%);
– metals (-4.1%).

Swiss exports shrank mostly to Russia (-31.8%), Japan (-19.6%), Hong Kong (-15.5%) and China (-7.4%).

At the same time, total imports edged up 0.3% month-over-month to CHF 18.4 billion in July. That reflected higher purchases of:

– precision instruments (8.8%);
– energy sources (4.4%);
– food and beverages (3.1%).

The Swiss Franc was 0.43% stronger on the day against the Euro, with the EUR/CHF currency pair last trading at 0.9523 ahead of Euro Area’s final CPI inflation data for July.