2018.10.1803:55:00UTC+00Swiss Trade Surplus Falls In Q3

Switzerland's trade surplus declined in the third quarter, figures published by the Federal Customs Administration showed Thursday.

In the third quarter, exports dropped 2.9 percent after six quarters of positive growth and imports contracted 1.5 percent, taking the trade surplus to CHF 3.5 billion compared to CHF 4.4 billion in the second quarter.

In real terms, exports decreased 2.3 percent and imports were down 2 percent in the third quarter.

Elsewhere, data from the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH showed that watch industry exports logged its first monthly fall since April 2017.

Watch exports slid 6.9 percent to CHF 1.7 billion. This variation was explained in part by the fact that there was one less working day in the period than last year.