It’s not just the mountains that are high in Switzerland, but also the turnover in the logistics sector. With an annual turnover of around 40 billion euros, the market is one of the largest in Europe with around 175,000 employees. This is also due to the two top players Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) and Kühne + Nagel International AG. They are among the world’s most successful companies in the industry and are not only internationally successful, but also enjoy a high reputation in their own country.

And things are still on the rise: transport services on Swiss roads totalled 17.4 billion tonne-kilometres in 2022 – 28 percent more than in 2000.

Across the Alps

With more than 290 million tons per year and a share of around 63 percent, road freight transport dominates land transport in Switzerland. Only just under 70 million tons are transported by rail. Freight traffic crossing the Alps plays a special role in Switzerland. This involves over the Gotthard, San Bernardino, Great St. Bernard and Simplon passes for road freight and over the Gotthard and Simplon passes for rail freight. Around 6.8 million tons passed over these routes in 2021. In total, around 9.5 million tons were transported in Switzerland during this period – by around 860,000 vehicles.

The Gotthard route A2 runs from the German border near Basel via Lucerne through the Gotthard road tunnel to the Italian border. Photo: Adobe Stock

Good infrastructure

Switzerland boasts a well-developed transport infrastructure by international standards. The road network stretches over a length of 85,000 kilometers, 1,600 of which are highways. The Swiss export a good 1.7 million tons of foodstuffs and luxury foods worth around 8.4 billion euros on this roads every year. Exports of luxury foods such as coffee, tea, chocolate and spices alone amounted to more than 3.3 billion euros. The high value of exported products is reflected in a comparison with imports, which almost double in volume but are almost on a par in value. These amount to around 3.5 million tons and are worth around 9 billion euros.

Most important trading partner: Germany

Overall, Switzerland exported goods worth around 278 billion euros in 2022 and imported goods worth around 235 billion euros, excluding precious metals, art and antiques. In terms of exports, machinery, appliances and electronic goods are in the lead with a value of around 33 billion euros, as are imports at around 36 billion euros. The foreign trade deficit is even higher in the agricultural sector, where imports worth 15 billion euros are offset by exports worth less than 10 billion euros.

Whether import or export: Germany is the most important trading partner for both.

What have you loaded up on your tours through Switzerland? Tell us in a comment!