Switzerland's trade surplus surged in the third quarter on recovering exports, data from the Federal Customs Administration showed on Thursday.
The trade balance registered a surplus of CHF 10.54 billion, which was above CHF 9.49 billion logged in the second quarter. In the same period last year, the surplus was CHF 8.26 billion.
In real terms, exports rebounded 0.8 percent, following a 1.6 percent drop a quarter ago. At the same time, the decline in imports softened to 0.6 percent from 3.2 percent.
In September, the trade surplus rose to CHF 5.03 billion from CHF 3.13 billion in August, data showed.
The monthly growth in exports advanced to 8.9 percent from 7.7 percent in August. Meanwhile, the growth in imports slowed to 0.3 percent from 4.3 percent.
Another report from the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry showed that watch exports increased 3.8 percent on a yearly basis to CHF 2.3 billion in September, despite a negative base effect.
