Swiss banking sector generated CHF74.5 billion in value added, study finds

Swiss banks generated CHF 74.5 billion in direct and indirect value added in 2025, according to a BAK Economics study commissioned by the Swiss Bankers Association. The total represents around 338,700 full-time jobs, placing the sector’s footprint well beyond the people employed by banks themselves.

Direct gross value added accounted for CHF 43.8 billion, while the wider economic effects added another CHF 30.7 billion. Those indirect effects came through banks’ purchases of intermediate goods and the spending of their employees, supporting jobs and activity in other sectors.

The study puts banks’ direct contribution at around 5.1% of Switzerland’s total gross value added. When indirect effects are included, the share rises to 8.7%. The figures offer a measure of the sector’s reach across the Swiss economy, from its own workforce to businesses and services connected to banking activity.

Banks directly employed the equivalent of 157,700 full-time staff in 2025. Their spending and purchases supported around 180,900 additional full-time jobs in other sectors, taking the overall employment effect to about 338,700.

The indirect contribution includes demand for intermediate goods and services, as well as consumer spending by bank employees. BAK Economics calculated that these effects generated CHF 30.7 billion in additional value added. Combined with banks’ own CHF 43.8 billion, the total effect was 1.7 times the direct contribution.

The employment figures show two parts of the sector’s role: the workforce inside banks and the jobs sustained through their economic connections. Direct banking employment represented 3.5% of Swiss full-time-equivalent jobs. Including indirect effects, the share reached 7.6%. These measures use full-time equivalents, allowing the study to compare employment across the banking sector and the wider economy.

Banking services generated CHF 24.4 billion in exports in 2025, equal to 14.7% of Switzerland’s total service exports. The study identifies cross-border wealth management as a key part of that business, linking Swiss banks’ international activity to the country’s export economy.

The sector also contributed to public finances. Direct and indirect tax revenue attributed to banking amounted to CHF 16.6 billion, or 9.3% of total tax revenue collected by the federal government, cantons and municipalities.

Together, exports and tax receipts show how banking activity connects Switzerland’s international services trade with public budgets at every level of government. The figures cover both direct and indirect effects, reflecting the study’s broader accounting of how the sector supports activity beyond its own operations. Banks’ export role is especially pronounced in services, where their share of national exports reached nearly one in seven francs in 2025.

Direct banking activity accounted for around 5.1% of Switzerland’s total gross value added; with indirect effects, the share rose to 8.7%. The employment shares followed a similar pattern, increasing from 3.5% of full-time-equivalent jobs directly to 7.6% when wider effects were counted.

The study also points to the sector’s domestic role. Cantonal, regional and Raiffeisen banks provide basic payment, deposit and credit services to households and businesses. These services form part of everyday economic activity, alongside the international business that drives banking-service exports.

Taken together, the figures describe a sector with both domestic and cross-border reach. Its contribution includes bank employees and activity among suppliers and other businesses, as well as export earnings and tax receipts. The study’s 2025 estimates put those different channels into a single economic picture, showing the scale of banking’s place in Switzerland’s economy and employment.