Trade between the UK and Switzerland at a glance

Below is a summary of the current trade position between the UK and Switzerland, exploring overall trade and taking an in-depth look at trade of foodstuff and animal products. 

Total trade of goods and services between the UK and Switzerland was £52.8 billion in 2022; Switzerland was the UK’s ninth-largest trading partner.

Data is averaged over the three-year period 2020–2022, taken from annual figures.

Figure 1 shows UK exports to Switzerland of all commodities, from animal hides to machinery and transportation. It shows that the highest value of UK exports is for metal, by some way, totalling over £20,000 million. For foodstuffs and animal products totalled, export value is approximately £142 million.

Figure 1. UK exports to Switzerland (2020–2022 average)

Figure 2 shows the breakdown of UK foodstuffs exports to Switzerland by % of value. Beverages, spirits and vinegar (H in Figure 2) take up the largest single category at 42%. Miscellaneous edible preparations took up 32%, mostly consisting of food preparation products. Note that the foodstuffs category does not include vegetable or animal products.

Figure 2. UK foodstuffs exported to Switzerland by % of value (2020–2022 average)

Miscellaneous edible preparations (G):

• 81% of this value comes from Food preparations not elsewhere specified
• 8% is ice creams

Beverages, spirits, and vinegar (H):

• 72% of this value comes from spirits, liqueurs, and other spirituous beverages
• 16% is from wines

Figure 3 shows UK imports from Switzerland, using the same list of commodities as Figure 1. For foodstuffs and animal products the totals are over £270 million.

Figure 3. UK imports from Switzerland (2020–2022 average)

Figure 4 shows animal product exports from the UK to Switzerland. Sheep meat exports amount to the largest value, at over £3.4 million. Dairy and beef exports create almost £3.2 million and 1.4 million respectively. Pork exports are minimal.

Figure 4. Animal product exports from the UK to Switzerland (2020–2022 average)

• UK beef share of exports decreased from 1.53% in 2020 to 0.08% in 2021
• 20% of Swiss beef imports comes from Ireland
• The largest value sector, sheep meat accounts for just 1.2% share of total sheep imports into Switzerland
• Switzerland sources most of its imported pork and dairy products from neighbouring countries

Continue reading about the UK–Switzerland FTA

• Introduction
• Switzerland trade and production
  
  • Beef
  • Lamb
  • Pork
  • Dairy
• Consumer demand: Is there a market to export more UK red meat and dairy to Switzerland?
• Agricultural policy in Switzerland
• Switzerland's Free Trade Agreements
• Economic modelling of the beef, sheep, dairy and pork sectors (coming soon)