Switzerland, economic activity relative to the pre-crisis level in %

Swiss weekly economic activity at pre-crisis levels

At the beginning of March, the so-called AES index strongly recovered and temporarily exceeded the pre-pandemic values of the 12th week of 2020

The weekly economic activity index is completed in the Swiss Confederation with a comparison against the pre-crisis level in the fourth quarter of 2019.
The results show that, after the strong increase last March, the pre-crisis level has been temporarily reached.
The index of weekly economic activity (AES) measures real economic activity in Switzerland in a given week compared to the same week in the previous year.

Uno scaffale di gomitoli in un ordinato negozio — A shelf of balls in a tidy store

In week 12 of 2020 the “was” sharp decline

In week 12 of 2020 economic activity in Switzerland had experienced a sharp and rapid decline due to the first lockdown.
As a consequence the growth rates for the last weeks compared to the previous year are very high which complicates the interpretation.

Weekly economic activity index, WEA
Index zur wöchentlichen Wirtschaftsaktivität, WWA

As a complement, SECO therefore also makes the AES index available in comparison with the level in the fourth quarter of 2019.
In the 13th week of 2021, the AES is still about 1 percent below the pre-crisis level. Since the beginning of March, economic activity has recovered strongly and temporarily exceeded pre-crisis levels.

Svizzera, attività economica rispetto al livello pre-crisi in %

Suisse, ctivité économique par rapport au niveau d'avant la crise en % — Suisse, ctivité économique par rapport au niveau d’avant la crise en %

Schweiz, Wirtschaftsaktivität relativ zum Vorkrisenniveau in %

The key is the reopening of retail trade.

This is likely due in part to recovery effects in private consumption. As retail trade has reopened, consumer spending has been able to recover in some segments.

Indice de l’activité économique hebdomadaire (AEH)
Indice dell’attività economica settimanale AES

In March, positive signals also came from the industry, which has weakened slightly recently.
In the last two weeks the AES has fallen considerably below the pre-crisis level.