Editing Economy of Switzerland (section)

=== 20th century ===
The industrial sector began to grow in the 19th century with a [[laissez-faire]] industrial/trade policy, Switzerland's emergence as one of the most prosperous nations in Europe, sometimes termed the "Swiss miracle", was a development of the mid 19th to early 20th centuries, among other things tied to the role of [[Switzerland during the World Wars]].<ref>Roman Studer, ''"When Did the Swiss Get so Rich?" Comparing Living Standards in Switzerland and Europe, 1800-1913'', ''Journal of European economic history'' (2008) 37 (2), 405-452. [http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/32448/]</ref>

Switzerland's total energy consumption, which was dropping from the mid 1910s to the early 1920s, started to increase again in the early 1920s. It stagnated during the 1930s before falling again during the early 1940s; but rapid growth started once again in the mid 1940s.<ref>National report on the Swiss Energy regime, ''BARENERGY project of EU'',{{cite web |url=http://www.barenergy.eu/uploads/media/D13_Switzerland.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2014-01-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120526171007/http://www.barenergy.eu/uploads/media/D13_Switzerland.pdf |archive-date=2012-05-26 }}</ref>

In the 1940s, particularly during World War II, the economy profited from the increased export and delivery of weapons to Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and other European countries. However, [[Energy in Switzerland|Switzerland's energy consumption]] decreased rapidly. The co-operation of the banks with the Nazis (although they also co-operated extensively with the British and French) and their commercial relations with the Axis powers during the war were later sharply criticised, resulting in a short period of [[international isolation]] of Switzerland. Switzerland's production facilities were largely undamaged by the war, and afterwards both imports and exports grew rapidly.<ref name=FDFA>{{Cite web |url=https://www.eda.admin.ch/aboutswitzerland/en/home/geschichte/epochen/die-schweiz-im-kalten-krieg--1945-1989-.html |title=Switzerland during the Cold War (1945-1989) |website=www.eda.admin.ch - Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA |access-date=19 September 2018}}</ref>

In the 1950s, annual GDP growth averaged 5% and Switzerland's energy consumption nearly doubled. Coal lost its rank as Switzerland's primary energy source, as other imported fossil fuels, such as crude and refined oil and natural and refined gas, increased.<ref name="BFS_Energy">{{Cite web |url=https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/de/home/statistiken/kataloge-datenbanken/daten.assetdetail.283911.html |title=Bruttoenergieverbrauch: Anteil der Primärenergieträger und Entwicklung - 1910-2014 |last=Swiss Federal Statistical Office |website=Bundesamt für Statistik |language=de |access-date=19 September 2018}}</ref>

In the 1960s, annual GDP growth averaged 4% and Switzerland's total energy consumption nearly doubled again. By the end of the decade oil provided over three-quarters of Switzerland's energy.<ref name=BFS_Energy/>

In the 1970s the GDP growth rate gradually declined from a peak of 6.5% in 1970; GDP then contracted by 7.5% in 1975 and 1976. Switzerland became increasingly dependent on oil imported from its main suppliers, the OPEC cartel. The 1973 international oil crisis caused Switzerland's energy consumption to decrease in the years from 1973 to 1978.<ref name=BFS_Energy/> In 1974 there were three nationwide car-free Sundays when private transport was prohibited as a result of the oil supply shock. From 1977 onwards GDP grew again, although Switzerland was also affected by the [[1979 energy crisis]] which resulted in a short-term decrease in Switzerland's energy consumption. In 1970 industry still employed about 46% of the labor force, but during the economic recession of the 1970s the services sector grew to dominate the national economy. By 1970 17.2% of the population and about one quarter of the work force were foreign nationals, though job losses during the economic recession decreased this number.<ref name=FDFA/>

In the 1980s, Switzerland's economy contracted by 1.3% in 1982 but grew substantially for the rest of the decade, with annual GDP growth between about 3% and 4%, apart from 1986 and 1987 when growth decreased to 1.9% and 1.6% respectively.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD.ZG?locations=CH|title=GDP growth (annual %) - Switzerland &#124; Data|website=data.worldbank.org}}</ref>

Switzerland's economy was marred by slow growth in the 1990s, having the weakest economic growth in [[Western Europe]]. The economy was affected by a three-year recession from 1991 to 1993, when the economy contracted by 2%. The contraction also became apparent in Switzerland's energy consumption and export growth rates. Switzerland's economy averaged no appreciable increase (only 0.6% annually) in GDP.

After enjoying unemployment rates lower than 1% before 1990, the three-year recession also caused the unemployment rate to rise to its all-time peak of 5.3% in 1997. In 2008, Switzerland was in second place among European countries with populations above one million in terms of nominal and [[purchasing power parity]] GDP per capita, behind [[Norway]] (see [[List of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita|list]]). Several times in the 1990s, real wages decreased since nominal wages could not keep up with inflation. However, beginning in 1997, a global resurgence in currency movement provided the necessary stimulus to the Swiss economy. It slowly gained momentum, and peaked in the year 2000 with 3.7% growth in real terms.<ref name="BFS Finance">{{cite web | url=http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/de/index/themen/18/01/pan.html | title=Öffentliche Finanzen - Panorama | publisher=Bundesamt für Statistik (BFS) | date=February 2013 | access-date=2013-05-22 | page=18.3 | language=de | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130428162726/http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/de/index/themen/18/01/pan.html | archive-date=2013-04-28 | url-status=dead }}</ref>