ZURICH, March 19 (Reuters) - Swiss exports fell sharply in February as demand for the country's goods dwindled, data showed on Thursday, underlining the importance of steps taken last week by the Swiss National Bank to weaken the Swiss franc.
Exports fell by 16.3 percent on the year when adjusted for price swings, the Federal Customs Office said, while nominal imports were 13.6 billon francs, taking the trade surplus to 731 million francs.
"The SNB has intervened in the FX markets to 'prevent any further appreciation of the Swiss franc' yet exports are likely to continue to suffer as demand from key trade partners such as Germany remains at depressed levels," said 4Cast Limited analyst Saara Tuuli.
"Interest rates have clearly bottomed at 0.25 percent this year and hence the focus is now on the effectiveness of the SNB's announced unorthodox measures," she said.
All export sectors were hit, with the watchmaking industry reporting a 22 percent year-on-year drop in nominal terms as consumers curb their spending on Swiss timepieces.
The slump in demand was also broad-based geographically, with demand from Europe, North America and Asia all falling significantly.
Switzerland slid into recession by the middle of last year as global demand for Swiss products collapsed. The SNB forecasts a decline of gross domestic product of between 2.5 and 3.0 percent this year, the worst since 1975.
(Reporting by Katie Reid; editing by David Stamp)