ormance. Switzerland has the world's highest per capita gross national productù US$28,000. The country's average annual rate of inflation for the 1981-1990 period was 3.8 percent. Gross national product growth averaged 1.9 percent per annum over the same period. Switzerland's GNP approximates US$200 billion per annum. The structure of Swiss manufacturing is summarized in Table 1, which may be found on the next page. As the data presented in Table 1
Swiss Manufacturing By Product Group
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Product Group Proportion of Total
Manufacturing Output
Food, beverages, and tobacco 10 percent
Textiles and clothing 7 percent
Machinery and transport equipment 31 percent
Chemicals 9 percent
Other 42 percent
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indicate, Swiss manufacturing is heavily oriented toward durable goods. Durable goods manufacturing provides most export products for Switzerland. The distribution of the Swiss gross domestic product (GDP) by sector is summarized in Table 2, which may be found on the following page. As the data presented in Table 2 indicate, Switzerland has one of the highest savings rates (30 percent) in the world. The Swiss savings rate is second only to Japan among OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) member countries. By comparison, the savings rate in the United States is 13 percent. The distribution of household consumption in Switzerland is summarized in Table 3, which may be found on page 5. The data presented in Table 3 indicate that the distribution of Swiss household consumption is quite similar to that in other Western Eur...