The Swiss PMI came in at a seasonally adjusted 57.8 in December 2018, little-changed from the previous month's 57.7 and above market expectations of 57.2. The latest reading continued to point to a strong expansion in the manufacturing sector, supported by production (up 2.2 points to 60.5), purchasing volume (up 2.6 points to 55.8) and stocks purchased (up 6 points to 56.5). Meanwhile, the gauge measuring new order levels fell 2.3 points to 55.0, alongside purchasing prices (down 1.6 points to 60.3), delivery times (down 0.5 points to 61.3), sales stocks (down 4 points to 49.6) and employment (down 1.3 points to 56.6). PMI averaged at 61.5 points in 2018. A higher annual average has only ever been registered in the years 2010, 2007 and 2006 as well as 2000 – all of them boom years. Manufacturing PMI in Switzerland averaged 54.08 from 1995 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 66.90 in December of 2006 and a record low of 32.90 in March of 2009.
Manufacturing PMI in Switzerland is expected to be 55.50 by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Manufacturing PMI in Switzerland to stand at 54.50 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Switzerland Manufacturing PMI is projected to trend around 54.00 in 2020, according to our econometric models.