Swiss National Bank reports Q1 current account surplus fell to CHF 16 billion and net international investment position rose to CHF 974 billion

The Swiss National Bank published Switzerland’s balance of payments and international investment position for the first quarter of 2026, showing that the current account surplus fell to CHF 16 billion from the same quarter a year earlier. The CHF 11 billion decline was driven mainly by trade in goods, as non-monetary gold trading moved from a surplus in the first quarter of 2025 to a deficit and the balance of traditional goods trade also decreased. Other current-account components changed little, with the services balance becoming somewhat less negative and primary and secondary income broadly unchanged. In the financial account, residents recorded a net acquisition of financial assets of CHF 66 billion and a net incurrence of liabilities of CHF 37 billion, leaving a financial account balance of CHF 29 billion. Asset growth mainly reflected large direct investment acquisitions of non-resident companies by resident firms and substantial purchases of long-term debt securities issued abroad. On the liabilities side, the increase mainly came from higher non-resident deposits at commercial banks and the SNB. The net international investment position rose by CHF 18 billion quarter on quarter to CHF 974 billion, as asset stocks increased to CHF 5,419 billion and liabilities to CHF 4,445 billion. Increases on both sides were driven principally by financial-account transactions and were partly offset by price-related valuation losses from falling stock market prices in Switzerland and abroad.