Swiss textile and clothing industry says employment down 6%

11 Apr '06

2 min read

According to the latest figures from Swiss textile association Textilverband Schweiz revealed that the country's textiles and garments industry just managed to sustain the growth reported in the previous year.

The overall result of the branch has been maintained at a sound level, despite a slight downturn of 2.3 percent. Many companies achieved market success with new textile developments.

The 'Swiss Texnet' platform was founded to promote innovation and the new occupational training scheme for the textile industry was due to begin next year.

The export-led Swiss textiles and garments industry was heavily dependent on trends on the main foreign markets. In the USA, moderate growth was anticipated in the current year, while a slightly higher dynamic was expected in the EU. This was likely to have a positive impact on the progress of business in the Swiss textile industry.

In 2005, the textiles and garments industry achieved overall sales worth CHF 3.62 billion. This was just 2.3 percent short of the previous year's result. Against exports of textiles and garment articles which fell 2.4 percent to CHF 3.62 billion, the value of imports rose by 1.6 percent to CHF 7.67 billion.

The number of employees was down by 6.2 percent to 16 300 persons. On the other hand, productivity was higher.

In the textiles sector, sales worth CHF 2.04 billion were 5 percent lower. Textile exports also fell by 5.1 percent to CHF 1.98 billion. Onthe other hand, textile imports were held at the previous year's level with a value of CHF 2.13 billion. The number of employees fell by 7.3 percent to 11 100 persons in textile sector.

In the garment sector, sales were 1.5 percent higher at CHF 1.58 billion. Exports rose by 1.1 percent to CHF 1.64 billion and imports by 2.3 percent to CHF 5.54 billion. Staff numbers were 3.8 percent lower with 5 200 persons in employment at the end of 2005.

Textilverband Schweiz

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