Swiss economic growth accelerates in fourth quarter, estimate shows

ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss economic growth accelerated in the fourth quarter compared with the previous three months, driven by both industry and the services sector, a preliminary official estimate showed on Monday.

Adjusted for sporting events, gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 0.4% from the third quarter, the figures published by the Swiss government showed. GDP had increased by 0.2% during the July-September period.

For the whole of 2024, growth slowed to 0.8% from 1.2% the previous year, the economy ministry estimate showed.

The figure was below recent growth in Switzerland, which since 1981 has averaged 1.8% annually, the ministry said.

(Reporting by Ozan Ergenay and Tristan Veyet, Editing by Friederike Heine)