Purchasing experts in Switzerland report that the purchasing situation is easing. At the same time, overall industrial activity has been declining slightly for the past three months.
The Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) from procure.ch identifies economic trends by summarizing reports from purchasing managers who assess their business situation. On a scale of 0 to 100, it measures growth, stagnation or decline in relation to factors such as price trends and delivery times. A PMI above 50 indicates growth compared to the previous month, while a value below 50 indicates a decline.
In March 2023, 14% of the companies surveyed were still confronted with rising purchase prices. By comparison, this figure was 91% a year ago. Almost one in five companies saw purchase prices fall in March, which was not the case for a single company a year ago. Delivery times were also shortened for one in four companies. At the same time, purchasing volumes are falling, i.e. purchasing and sales inventories are only being replenished to a limited extent, which is one of the reasons why the PMI was below the growth threshold for the third month in a row in March (47 index points).
The services PMI, on the other hand, is more focused on domestic consumption and remains above the growth threshold (52.2 index points). New orders and order backlogs are still in a phase of growth. Purchase prices in the services sector were at their lowest level since November 2020 and the proportion of companies raising prices has more than halved. You can find more information here .
