The majority of Liechtenstein’s industrial enterprises have again assessed the general economic environment in the third quarter of the year as good. There is pessimism concerning business, but companies are not expecting their own situations to worsen.

The Office for Statistics (AS) evaluated the answers provided by 44 companies with a total of 10,175 employees for the most recent edition of the quarterly economic survey, as outlined by AS in its publication accompanying the survey. The companies interviewed represent 70 per cent of the industrial sector, or 30 per cent of the economy of Liechtenstein.

According to the findings, the companies interviewed still assess the overall economic climate as good, but business at each company was described as good by only 28 per cent. For order intakes and earnings at the companies, there was a negligible difference compared to the previous quarter, write the analysts. Machine and plant utilization was described as “increasingly declining”. In the near future, the respondents do not however expect a worsening in business.

A majority of respondents from both the metal and non-metal industries again assessed their respective business situations as good in the third quarter. An increase in incoming orders and improved earnings occurred while utilization rates declined. Nevertheless, for the current quarter companies in the metal industry are forecasting improved earnings. 

In the non-metal industry, companies have noticed a “tangible economic cool down”. While a majority of respondents assessed their own business situation as good in the second quarter, in the third quarter the response was largely satisfactory. For the fourth quarter, companies in the non-metal industry are expecting stabilization in economic indicators.