The agricultural and alpine agricultural areas together make up 36% of the total area of Switzerland. The number of farms is generally decreasing although the actual farms are getting bigger and the organically farmed area is increasing. Animal production is the predominant branch of farming. Forest and woodland account for 31% of Switzerland’s territory. The forest area has notably increased in the Alps. Two thirds of trees are coniferous. In 2019, 4.6 million m3 of timber was harvested. The landscape is therefore largely shaped by agriculture and forestry. In 2019, the share of agriculture and forestry in the gross value added of the Swiss economy was 0.7%.
Output of agriculture1, 2019in %
| Crop output | 39.0 |
| Cereals | 3.3 |
| Forage plants | 10.6 |
| Vegetables and horticultural products | 12.1 |
| Fruits and grapes | 4.9 |
| Wine | 4.2 |
| Other crop outputs | 3.9 |
| Animal output | 48.3 |
| Cattle | 12.4 |
| Pigs | 8.5 |
| Milk | 21.4 |
| Other animals and animal products | 6.0 |
| Agricultural services output | 6.4 |
| Non-agricultural secondary activities | 6.3 |
1 Total value = CHF 11.4 billion
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