Revised figures highlight Switzerland’s economic clusters
Tuesday 3rd November 2026 on 08:01 in
Switzerland
A new calculation of economic output by canton shows Switzerland’s strongest business clusters standing out more sharply, SRF reports. The Federal Statistical Office recalculated figures for 2011 to 2024, with the revised method assigning more value added to cantons hosting large international companies.
In the 2022 reference year, Basel-Stadt’s gross domestic product rose by 30 percent under the new calculation. Geneva’s value added increased by almost 50 percent. The figures for Schaffhausen and Neuchâtel also rose by nearly 50 percent, largely because the revised method assigned several companies directly to those cantons.
The office previously estimated cantonal GDP by dividing Switzerland’s total economic output among the cantons, using factors such as the number of employees. It now calculates output from the bottom up, primarily using company data assigned to individual cantons.
The revised figures put GDP higher in eight cantons, including Basel-Stadt, Geneva, Neuchâtel and Zug. The other 18 have lower figures than before, including Glarus, St Gallen and Ticino.
Zurich remains Switzerland’s largest cantonal economy, with GDP of CHF 167 billion in 2024. Geneva followed at a distant second with just over CHF 87 billion. But Geneva, Vaud, Neuchâtel and Valais together generated considerably more than Zurich. Zug and Basel have also gained economic weight relative to Zurich.
Michael Grass of the Basel-based economic research institute BAK said international corporations were central to Switzerland’s competitiveness. Their high productivity means they generate more value added per job than small and medium-sized businesses, he said. Smaller firms remain important for employment, but a high number of jobs no longer necessarily means the most value is being created there.
Grass said the figures point towards further concentration as Switzerland develops into a knowledge economy, with functions such as research, company headquarters, patent administration, wholesale and corporate finance tending to cluster near talent and one another. He said large companies can also support other businesses, including small and medium-sized firms, while commuter flows can allow peripheral regions to benefit from growth.