Switzerland's international economic affairs statistics (direct investment, international investment position, balance of payments) are an important source of macroeconomic data for Swiss businesses, and the political and academic communities. This is also borne out by the fact that, as well as being prerequisites for Switzerland's membership in the International Monetary Fund, they are part of the bilateral agreement on statistics between Switzerland and the European Union. Under the National Bank Act, the SNB is tasked with compiling these statistics and collecting the necessary data. This is the purpose of the survey on cross-border capital linkages (INV).

Users of the statistics expect them to reflect current economic activities and to be in line with the latest international standards regarding the compilation of statistics. The present surveys (INP, INA, INQ) have remained unchanged since 2014 and no longer fully meet these requirements. Therefore, a substantive and technical revision is needed.

The revision is focused on ensuring the quality and informative value of the data. It is therefore necessary to survey some items in depth and with greater granularity. This concerns in particular corporate results and data on derivatives.

The revision also involves replacing the MS Excel-based survey and switching to a web table format.
The web tables on the eSurvey online reporting portal display the information to be reported and data is entered, checked and submitted here. This instrument has been used for the current account survey (CAS) since 2023.

The purpose of the survey and the definition of the reporting obligation, however, are not affected by the revision.

The SNB will provide reporting institutions with regular information on the status of the revision and on the timetable for implementing the revised survey.

There will be a feedback process to involve reporting institutions in the development of the survey to ensure it is user-friendly and designed as far as possible from the companies' perspective.

In addition, the SNB plans to conduct pilot surveys to test the revised survey sections in practice with selected reporting institutions at an early stage. The SNB will contact the companies concerned.

2025

Start of conceptual work on revising the survey.

2025, Q4

All reporting institutions informed of the biggest and most important content-related changes in a letter to executive management (cf. Information on reporting).

2026

Pilot survey of selected reporting institutions on revised key figures.

2026, Q4

All reporting institutions informed about the revised survey.
Survey form made available as web tables.

2027

Transition phase for adjustments to reporting institutions' processes.
Pilot survey of selected reporting institutions on revised key figures.

2027, Q4

Revised survey conducted for first time.