The Swiss economy escaped recession by registering surprise second-quarter growth of 0.2 per cent despite the surge in the value of the franc at the beginning of the year, dpa cited official figures as showing Friday.

The 0.2-per-cent growth from April to June reported by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs contrasts with a fall in gross domestic product (GDP) of 0.2 per cent in the first quarter, which had raised fears the Swiss economy was headed for a recession.

A recession occurs when a country's GDP falls for two consecutive quarters.

The GDP results were better than the 0.1-per-cent drop in GDP that economists had predicted.

Growth was underpinned by private household and government spending.

The franc rose as much as 20 per cent after the Swiss Central Bank removed the peg to the euro on January 15.