Swiss current account surplus falls to CHF 16 billion in Q1

Switzerland's current account surplus reached CHF 16 billion in the first quarter of 2026, marking an CHF 11 billion decrease from the prior-year quarter.

This reduction was primarily due to a shift in goods trade, where the gold trade balance (for non-monetary purposes) turned from a surplus to a deficit, and classical goods trade also saw a decline.

Other current account components, including services trade and primary/secondary income, remained largely stable.

Capital account transactions resulted in a net increase of CHF 66 billion in assets and CHF 37 billion in liabilities, leading to a CHF 29 billion capital account balance.

This asset growth was significantly influenced by Swiss companies' foreign acquisitions and substantial purchases of long-term foreign debt securities by Swiss investors.

The net international investment position increased by CHF 18 billion from the previous quarter, reaching CHF 974 billion in Q1 2026.

Assets rose by CHF 71 billion to CHF 5419 billion, while liabilities increased by CHF 53 billion to CHF 4445 billion.

These increases in both assets and liabilities were primarily due to capital account transactions.

However, these gains were partially offset by price-related valuation losses resulting from falling stock market prices both domestically and abroad.

It is also worth noting that the current account surplus in the prior-year quarter was relatively high, providing important context for the recent decline.