Switzerland news: first time detailed trade statistics for gold available; Asia is main export market

The data on Swiss trade in precious metals for January 2014 has been broken down by country for the first time in 30 years, report swissinfo.ch and vaterland.li. It shows that Switzerland imports most of its gold, silver and precious coins from the UK, while its main export markets are in Asia. Total exports were over 5.3 billion euros in January, while imports were worth almost 6 billion euros.

The press release by the Swiss Federal Customs Administration has the breakdown by country.  trade Swiss Jan 2014

source: based on Swiss Customs press release, exchange rate via oanda.com

The data  also shows that that trade in gold bars grew rapidly after around 2005, and that Switzerland now exports gold bars worth over CHF 100 billion a year.

Swiss trade in gold bars, billion CHF

gold trade historic

Source: Swiss customs press release

No explanation is given in the press release for this sudden growth since 2005. Given that Switzerland is a commodities hub and not a producer there was most likely a change in trade regulations or taxation around this time.

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