2019.02.2802:09:00UTC+00Swiss Economy Expands In Q4, Full Year Growth Rises

Switzerland's economy expanded in the fourth quarter of 2018 and the full year growth improved strongly, as a stagnation in domestic demand was offset by robust manufacturing and exports, preliminary data from the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs showed on Thursday.

Gross domestic product grew 0.2 percent from the previous quarter, which was slower than the 0.4 percent expansion economists had predicted.

The pace of contraction in the third quarter was revised to 0.3 percent from 0.2 percent.

In the first and second quarters, the Swiss economy grew 0.9 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.

Manufacturing grew 1.5 percent, which benefited from the strong global demand for Swiss products. Exports surged 5.6 percent.

Full-year growth accelerated to 2.5 percent in 2018 from 1.6 percent in the previous year. Growth was driven mainly by manufacturing, while trade declined for the first time since 2011.