There is a new methodology to calculate the cantonal GDP by the Swiss Federal Statistics Office:
“The Greeks of Switzerland” was once headlined by the “Weltwoche” about the Romands. The Welsh people worked less than the Swiss-Germans and indulged in “Mediterranean Schlendrian,” the magazine wrote. The headline of 2012 is sometimes still quoted in the Romandie today as evidence of the supposedly distorted gaze of the German-Swiss.
Oh boy!!! We are not as wealthy as we thought we were.
The new ranking of GDP is due to the fact that the Federal Statistical Office has refined its calculation method. Until now, the Office estimated cantonal GDP by breaking down Switzerland’s economic output to the cantons, depending on their number of jobs in certain industries.
Now the authority is the other way around: it looks at the locations of companies and calculates the cantonal GDP from their key figures. According to the statisticians, this method shows the value creation of individual regions in more detail. This particularly benefits cantons with a lot of > export and trade business.
One of the big winners of the revision is Geneva. Its GDP rose by almost half in the reference year 2022 thanks to the new calculation method, namely from 61 to 90 billion Swiss francs.
This jump is likely to be particularly due to the record profits of commodity traders. They benefit, for example, from the high energy prices caused by the wars in Ukraine and Iran. This is another reason why Geneva has become the largest donor canton in intercantonal financial compensation.
So, it’s time to fight:
The fact that the Lake Geneva region is now the strongest economic area in Switzerland before Zurich could exacerbate political debates in Bern, especially on distributional issues between the major regions and the cantons. In any case, Swiss politicians and business representatives are confident on request.
For example, the Vaud economy chief Isabelle Moret points out that her canton and Geneva together generate almost 20 percent of Swiss GDP. Both cantons would have as much weight in the economy as Zurich. “It’s high time that this is also the case in politics.”
This may be relevant for the construction industry, time to learn French!
Decisions within the framework of «Transportation ’45» are met with great incomprehension. It is criticized by name that the federal government wants to hold on to the Grimsel Tunnel between the Valais and the canton of Bern, but to slow down on projects for many more passengers in Romandie. The Grimsel Tunnel should only benefit 400 000 passengers a year, while the planned metro in Geneva should benefit up to 400 000 passengers a day, said the Geneva Minister of Transport Pierre Maudet last week at a panel discussion.
The long explanation by the Statistics office:
The bottom line is that Zürich has a lot of workers, but on average low productivity ones. Productivity here means GDP, CHF/year. Basel-Stadt is miniscule, but knocks it out of the park at 300k CHF/year per inhabitant. Zug, even with all the tax regime support, 317k CHF/year per inhabitant.
PS. we need a lot of popcorn for the ensuing discussion about the new fighter jets and air defense systems.