The number of jobs in the pharmaceutical industry has increased by 12,000 positions in the past ten years. In 2016, Swiss pharmaceutical companies offered around 43,000 full-time jobs, with each job in the pharmaceutical industry generating around four times more added value as the overall economic average. These figures come from a new study from the independent economic research institute BAK Economics and the consulting firm Polynomics on behalf of the association Interpharma.

According to the study, other industries are also benefiting from the successful economic activities of the pharmaceutical industry. Calculations show that every franc of added value from the pharmaceutical industry is worth an additional 70 rappen of added value in other industries as a result of supplier orders. This results in a direct added value contribution of 49.6 billion Swiss francs, or just under 8 per cent of the economy’s total gross added value. In addition, each additional job in the pharmaceutical industry creates an additional 3.2 full-time jobs in companies in other industries.

Overall, the pharmaceutical industry is the most important driver of growth in Switzerland as a centre of industry, finds the study. Around one-fifth of Switzerland’s real economic growth came from the Swiss pharmaceutical industry.

The success of the pharmaceutical industry is partly due to the attractive conditions in which it operates in Switzerland. For large pharmaceutical companies, this includes unbureaucratic access to important export markets, the availability of qualified staff, competitive corporate taxation, as well as the fact that the excellence of Switzerland as a centre of research is ensured.