The UK and Switzerland have finalised an enhanced free trade agreement covering services, digital trade and business mobility, targeting long-term UK export gains.
The pact could add £5.2bn ($6.97bn) annually to UK services exports over the long term, the UK government estimates, and expand the countries’ existing goods agreement, which traces back to a 1972 EU-Switzerland arrangement.
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Under the new terms, UK professionals will retain permanent access to deliver services in Switzerland for up to 90 days a year without needing a work permit, alongside a separate visa-free route of up to three months for short-term suppliers in specified service sectors.
Switzerland ranks as the UK’s sixth-largest services export destination, with bilateral services trade exceeding £30bn ($34.3bn) in 2025 and total bilateral trade reaching £53bn ($60.7bn) the same year.
Foreign direct investment between the two countries totalled £87bn ($99.6bn) at the end of 2024.
The UK government described the digital provisions as its most extensive in any free trade agreement to date, encompassing cross-border data flow commitments, restrictions on unjustified data localisation, and support for paperless trading, digital payments and electronic contracts.
The agreement additionally addresses investment, procurement, intellectual property, customs, sanitary and phytosanitary standards, and trade remedies.
On mobility, the deal permanently locks in terms from the temporary Services Mobility Agreement, due to lapse in 2029, safeguarding an estimated £700m ($801.3m) in annual UK services exports that might otherwise have been at risk.
It also fixes rules for intra-corporate transferees and eases permit access for graduates entering finance, insurance and consultancy roles in Switzerland.
The UK has committed to preserving its current 10-year regulatory data protection period for pharmaceuticals – eight years of data exclusivity plus 10 years of market exclusivity – and up to five years of Supplementary Protection Certificate protection.
The government said this does not require any change to existing UK law or practice.
On goods, Switzerland has extended tariff concessions on red meat, dairy, horticulture, sparkling wine and seafood, including a zero rate on sheepmeat within its WTO quota, plus a 34% cut to its sparkling wine tariff.
The agreement also outlines plans for surcharge-free mobile roaming between the two markets, though implementation details remain under discussion.
