# Major industrial, trading and service companies

A map of a former edition of the Atlas of Switzerland, the national atlas published by ETH Zurich. It opens only in the desktop atlas (version 4) for Windows and macOS, not in the web atlas; see the links below.

- Map: https://atlasderschweiz.ch/en/theme/major-industrial-trading-and-service-companies/
- Short title: Industrial, trading and service companies
- Map id: 526
- Categories: Economy and Energy › Companies › Industry, trading and service
- Keywords: Economy, Labour, Labour force
- Published: 2017-11-13
- Last revised: 2020-11-02
- Content language: English
- Other languages: [Deutsch](https://atlasderschweiz.ch/de/thema/groesste-industrie--handels--und-dienstleistungs-unternehmen.md), [Français](https://atlasderschweiz.ch/fr/theme/majeures-entreprises-industrielles-commerciales-et-de-services.md), [Italiano](https://atlasderschweiz.ch/it/tema/maggiori-imprese-industriali-commerciali-e-di-servizi.md)

## Description

*Swiss economy*
The Swiss economy has always been highly integrated into the global economy: its per capita import and export volumes and its import and export rate (as a percentage of GDP) are among the highest in the world. Exports play a particularly important economic role for a small country such as Switzerland. Switerzland’s main partners in the cross-border trade of goods are the industrialised countries; 76.3% of its imports come from these countries and 59.9% of its exports go to them (status 2008). Trade with the EU plays a particularly important role: it accounts for 66.1% of imports and 45% of exports. Switzerland’s most important trading partner is Germany, followed by the United States, Italy and France.

*Proportions*
In 2013, some 563,000 private enterprises were counted in Switzerland. Over 430,000 of them are in the services (tertiary) sector, while the industrial (secondary) sector has over 90,000 companies and the primary sector around 56,000. More than 99% of enterprises in Switzerland are SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises), i.e. enterprises with fewer than 250 employees (calculated as full-time equivalents); about 87% are micro-enterprises, i.e. with fewer than 10 employees. The average size of enterprises is around 8 employees.

*Comment:*
The industry indicated is that to which the company’s main activities relate. In some cases, however, industries cannot be assigned uniquely.

## Sources

- Handelszeitung (2016): Top 500. Die grössten Unternehmen der Schweiz. Bisnode Schweiz AG
- FSO (2016): [Panorama. Industrie und Dienstleistungen](https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfsstatic/dam/assets/262640/master). Bundesamt für Statistik. Statistische Grundlagen und Übersichten

## Data sources

- Atlas der Schweiz (2015): [Siedlungszentren](http://www.atlasderschweiz.ch/)
- Handelszeitung (2016): Top 500. Die grössten Unternehmen der Schweiz. Bisnode Schweiz AG

## Data owners

- [Atlas of Switzerland (AoS)](http://www.atlasderschweiz.ch/)
- [Handelszeitung](http://www.handelszeitung.ch/)

## Citation

The terms of use ask to name the Atlas of Switzerland and the data owners, and to keep the source references in exports, screenshots and embeds. Cite the map as:

> Atlas of Switzerland (2020): Major industrial, trading and service companies. ETH Zürich. Map data © AoS, Handelszeitung. https://atlasderschweiz.ch/en/theme/major-industrial-trading-and-service-companies/

## Links

- Map page, with the description and sources and a button that opens the map in the desktop atlas: https://atlasderschweiz.ch/en/theme/major-industrial-trading-and-service-companies/
- Open the map in the desktop atlas (version 4), where it is installed: adsglobe://map/526
- Download of the desktop atlas (version 4) for Windows and macOS: https://atlasderschweiz.ch/en/ads4-download/

For the use and citation of maps and data, see the [terms of use](https://atlasderschweiz.ch/en/terms-of-use/).