Retail trade Retail trade grows slightly in 2025
The Swiss retail sector barely grew last year. According to market researcher NielsenIQ, the increase was 1% compared to the previous year.
04.02.2026, 10:08
SDA
Specifically, the retailers covered by the NIQ Market Monitor Switzerland sold 1.2% more goods in the food and food-related sector (food/nearfood). In the non-food sector, the increase was a meagre 0.6%.
Meanwhile, the trend away from bricks-and-mortar retail towards online shopping continues. According to NielsenIQ, the cumulative growth in online shopping at the end of December 2025 was around 10% last year. In-store sales are therefore likely to have fallen again in 2025.
However, according to the market researcher itself, the NIQ Market Monitor figures do not claim to be representative of the market as a whole. According to the data, the 40 or so large Swiss retailers surveyed cover around 40 to 50 percent of total retail sales. Specialty retailers are not included.
Industry association sees decline
According to the latest figures published by the Swiss Retail Federation in mid-January, retail sales in 2025 will shrink by up to 1.3% in nominal terms. The association assumes that while the food sector grew by around 2.5%, the non-food sector fell by around 4%.
A turnaround is also not in sight, the association said at the time. Factors such as geopolitical uncertainties, high health insurance premiums and retail prices, which are still perceived as high, are likely to continue to slow down consumption in 2026.
