Switzerland saw a mixed performance across market sector activities in the 1st quarter 2025. While turnover rose by 2.1% compared with the same quarter of the previous year, employment in these same sectors fell by 0.1% (total employment +0.6%). These are provisional findings from the Federal Statistical Office (FSO).
In the secondary sector (industry and construction), turnover rose by 2.6% and employment by 0.2%. The tertiary sector (services) recorded an increase in turnover of 1.7%, while employment fell by 0.2%.
Secondary sector
Different trends were observed across the secondary sector in the 1st quarter 2025. In the industrial section there was an increase in turnover of 2.5% and a fall in employment of 0.4%, while in construction there was an increase in both turnover (+5.0%) and employment (+1.5%).
Tertiary sector
Trends varied among different tertiary sector market activities in the first quarter of 2025. While service section activity turnover increased by 1.7% over the same quarter of the previous year, employment figures fell slightly, by 0.2%. In the tertiary sector as a whole, however, there was a 0.7% increase in employment. In the retail division, turnover increased by 1.7% in the same period, while employment fell by 1.8%.
Focus: robust growth in Swiss construction
The Swiss construction has exhibited robust growth over the past decade. At 6.6%, employment growth in the construction section far outstripped that of the industrial section, where employment grew by 2.5% in the same period. In terms of turnover, the construction section recorded a growth in turnover of 11.3% between 2015 and 2024, while the industrial section saw an even more substantial increase of 40.2%. In 2024, the most recent year of comparison, similar developments were observed in both sections. The construction section grew by 3.5% and industry by 4.0%. Construction accounts for a large share of employment in the tertiary sector - some 34% - but the industrial section accounts for the bigger share, at 66%. Construction makes up 20% of turnover in this sector, industry 80%. These figures illustrate the continued strength of the Swiss construction and highlight its role as a vital and rapidly growing section of economic activity.
