30 October 2024 – The title of the first Forum des 100 conference, held in 2005, was “French-speaking Switzerland: A Region in Pursuit of Success.” Looking back over the past 20 years, we can see that the region achieved the success it sought. At the time, however, the outlook was anything but bright. In the wake of the economic crisis of the 1990s and the bursting of the dot-com bubble, there were concerns about public debt, unemployment, and weak growth. To measure the gap between then and now, the new GDP study on this region compares conditions in 2005 with those of today using economic and demographic indicators.
Value added: chemicals and pharmaceuticals lead the way
The chemical and pharmaceutical industry has topped the charts in terms of value added, posting 252.5% growth over the past two decades. That is five times faster than the second-place finisher – machinery, watchmaking,
and precision instruments – which expanded by 52.5%. The secondary sector, which accounts for around a quarter of GDP, delivered a third of the region’s growth. The expanding tertiary sector has been led by business and real-estate services (52.2%), with public and semi-public services not far behind (50.9%). Retail (42.4%) and financial services (35.9%) finished in third and fourth place.
Job creation: underpinned by services
The ranking changes significantly when we look at job growth (37.4% over the past 20 years, measured in full-time equivalent jobs). The sharpest increases were in the tertiary sector, accounting for over 80% of new jobs. Business and real estate services (76.2%) and public and semi-public services (62.7%) have led the way. Other standouts include two secondary-sector industries, construction (32.6%) and machinery, watchmaking, and precision instruments (29.6%). Further down the list comes chemicals and pharmaceuticals (15.4%).
