KOF Barometer rises slightly in April
Published: Tuesday, Apr 30th 2024, 09:30
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According to the latest KOF Economic Barometer, the economic outlook for Switzerland improved slightly last month. However, there is still a lack of strong impetus.
Specifically, the KOF Barometer improved by 1.4 points to 101.8 points in April, as reported by the KOF Swiss Economic Institute at ETH Zurich on Tuesday. However, the previous month's value for March was revised downwards to 100.4 from 101.5.
With the increase in April, the barometer has settled in the slightly above-average range, according to the report. The Swiss economy is therefore robust, but no strong impetus is currently in sight.
The value is pretty much in the middle of the estimates. Experts surveyed by the news agency AWP had forecast it to be between 101.0 and 102.5 points.
Very uneven within the industry
According to the information provided, the outlook is improving for the majority of aspects covered by the barometer. In particular, the indicators for financial and insurance services, manufacturing and private consumption are improving. In contrast, the outlook for the construction and hospitality industries is slightly less favorable than in March.
According to the KOF, the indicators for production activity and the general business situation are developing particularly well in the manufacturing industry (manufacturing and construction). In contrast, the indicators for capacity utilization of machinery and equipment and for intermediate goods inventories and the purchase of intermediate goods in particular are slowing down.
Within the manufacturing industry, the development is very uneven, the KOF writes further. The chemical and pharmaceutical industries and mechanical engineering were positive, while food and beverage manufacturers and the textile and clothing industry were negative.
The KOF Economic Barometer is a leading indicator for the development of the Swiss economy, which is made up of a large number of individual indicators. These are combined into an overall indicator using statistically determined weightings.
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