Tech industry remains on a downward trend in the first half of the year
Published: Tuesday, Aug 27th 2024, 10:20
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The Swiss tech industry is not getting off the ground at the moment: turnover and incoming orders continued to fall in the first half of 2024. Moreover, there is no sign of an upturn in the near future, not least due to neighboring Germany.
"The recovery in the tech industry is lagging", headlines the umbrella organization Swissmem in a press release from Tuesday on the industry's business performance in the first half of the year. Incoming orders fell by 3.3% compared to the same period last year.
This was the sixth consecutive quarter in which the industry experienced a year-on-year decline in incoming orders, according to the Association of the Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Metalworking Industries and Related Technology Sectors.
At the same time, turnover fell by 5.1 percent. Large companies were more affected by this development than SMEs. Capacity utilization in companies still reached 84.1% in the second quarter of the year. According to Swissmem, the long-term average is 86.2 percent.
Asia top, Europe flop
Exports of goods by the Swiss tech industry fell by 4.1% from January to June to 34.6 billion Swiss francs. The sales trend in the European markets (EU -6.8%) was particularly disappointing, with Germany (-8.4%) being particularly weak, according to the report.
"To put it bluntly, our companies' problems lie in Germany, where around a quarter of exports go," summarizes Swissmem Director Stefan Brupbacher. Although the Swiss tech industry does not have a structural problem, the recession in neighboring countries is inevitably having an impact on the sector.
By contrast, the Asian sales markets - above all China (+6.6%) and India (+5.4%) - grew noticeably compared to the same period last year. Exports to the USA also increased (+2.3%).
Nevertheless, there is still no sign of improvement in the current year. "The business figures for the Swiss tech industry show that the recovery is still delayed," says Brupbacher. He is pinning his hopes on next year: "I expect to see a turnaround in 2025".
Good framework conditions are all the more important for the tech industry, says the association. After all, three quarters of member companies are planning to invest in Switzerland in the next three years.
©Keystone/SDA
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