The financial sector was once again among the most important pillars of the Swiss economy in 2024. This is the conclusion of a study commissioned by the Swiss Insurance Association (SVV) from BAK Economics.

The gross value added generated by insurers and banks along the entire value chain amounted to a total of 73.2 billion Swiss francs in 2024, the SIA reported on Thursday.

The number of people employed in the sector stood at 245,800. This corresponds to around 5.5 percent of all jobs in Switzerland. The share of total gross value added, at 8.8 percent, is significantly higher. This is seen as evidence of the sector's exceptionally high productivity.

Productivity Well Above Average

Insurance services accounted for 31.4 billion francs, or around 43 percent, of gross value added. The productivity of insurers is not only above average, but also recorded the strongest growth over the period observed, the report states.

At 489,900 francs per full-time position, value added in the insurance sector is almost 2.6 times the economy-wide average.

«The insurance sector has continued its steady growth over the past twenty years without major fluctuations and is therefore a stabilizing anchor of the Swiss economy,» says SVV chief economist Jan Schüpbach.

Positive Trend in Employment

In the insurance sector, a positive trend with a continuous increase in jobs has been observed since 2019. Zurich is the largest financial center in terms of employment, followed by Geneva. With Lucerne, Basel-Stadt, Vaud and Bern, the BAK study also identifies four cantons where there are more jobs in insurance than in banking.

The financial sector also plays a significant role as a taxpayer. In 2024, the federal government, cantons, and municipalities collected 9.9 billion francs in tax revenues from the direct taxation of income and profits. This amount accounted for more than 9 percent of total tax revenue.

Further Growth Expected

BAK Economics’ outlook for the insurance industry is positive. Growth of 1.8 percent is expected for 2025, well above the overall economic average. In the medium term, insurers are expected to benefit from stronger economic momentum as well as general economic and population growth.

For 2026, BAK Economics forecasts an increase in real gross value added of 2.1 percent, and for the years 2027–2030 average growth of 2.5 percent.