Voters in Vaud approved a 12% cut in income and wealth taxes on Sunday, with 53.1% backing the initiative. The measure will not turn the canton into a tax haven. Even after the cut, Vaud’s tax burden will remain above the national average.

Photo by Ian Gabaraev on Pexels.com

Vaud’s residents will continue to rank among the most heavily taxed in Switzerland. The burden will remain particularly high for middle- and upper-middle-income taxpayers, as well as for the better-off, from 2027 onwards.

By several measures, Vaud ranks alongside Geneva and Basel-City among the three cantons with the heaviest taxation. It is likely to remain near the top of the table for taxpayers with more than CHF 100,000 in taxable income or wealth.

For now, neither business groups nor the political

Swiss health-insurance premiums are going up again. Average compulsory premiums will rise by 5% in 2027, to CHF 412 (US$ 500) a month. Anyone wondering what they will pay next year can check the federal government’s premium calculator.

Photo by SHVETS production on Pexels.com

One common explanation for the relentless increase is Switzerland’s ageing population. Older people consume more medical care, so an older population should spend more on doctors, hospitals and drugs. Both intuition and the data support that argument. But the large differences between cantons suggest that ageing is only part of the explanation—and perhaps not the most important one.

Health spending rises sharply with age. Average compulsory-insurance payouts are about CHF 1,600 a year for young children and

Switzerland finished third at WorldSkills, the global competition for young people in vocational trades, which ended in Shanghai on Sunday. It was the best-performing European country.

Cyrill Koller and Ian Hofer © WorldSkills

The 42-strong Swiss team won 12 medals: four golds, two silvers and six bronzes and ranked third overall based on the average medal points scored by each national team. Only China and South Korea finished ahead of it – see medal table here. Another 23 Swiss competitors received medals of excellence, awarded for performances that met a high standard but fell short of the podium.

Switzerland’s showing is notable given its size. China has about 1.4bn people and South Korea around 52m; Switzerland has just over 9m. The comparison does not explain the medal

Swiss voters are likely to have their say on a proposal to introduce parental leave. The Green Liberals announced on Wednesday that they had submitted 112,517 signatures in support of the initiative to the Federal Chancellery for verification.

Photo by Pavel Danilyuk on Pexels.com

The number of signatures comfortably exceeds the required threshold, subject to official verification. The initiative is also backed by the Green Party, Alliance F, the trade union federation Travail.Suisse and the women’s wing of the Centre Party.

Supporters argue that Switzerland’s birth rate, which has fallen to a historic low of 1.3 children per woman, makes reform necessary. Yet evidence that paid parental leave boosts fertility is mixed. A study of Norway, Sweden and Iceland found that fathers’

More than 700 medicines are currently affected by supply bottlenecks in Switzerland, according to drugshortage.ch, a platform run by Enea Martinelli, a hospital pharmacist. Mr Martinelli is also behind a popular initiative that would require the federal government to do more to secure the supply of medicines. The proposal, backed by a broad coalition from the health-care sector, was debated in the National Council this week.

Cancer Patient © Rido | Dreamstime.com

The site tracks shortages of individual medicine packs. Much of its information comes from pharmaceutical companies and from a wholesaler that supplies medicines to health-care providers. Mr Martinelli set up the platform because he regarded the federal government’s monitoring as too narrow. The authorities collect

Sunrise, Switzerland’s second-largest telecoms company, is planning another round of job cuts. Up to 450 positions could go, equivalent to almost 16% of its current workforce, reported RTS.

© Marlon Trottmann | Dreamstime.com

The cuts form part of a broader overhaul of the company’s operating model. Sunrise says it wants to focus its organisation more closely on customer retention, network quality and reliability, while speeding up the development and launch of new products and services.

The company has not yet said how it will be organised after the restructuring or which divisions will bear the brunt of the cuts. Staff working in shops, sales and customer service are expected to be largely spared, while apprentices will not be affected.

Artificial intelligence may also play

Temu and Shein are sending a growing number of packages to Switzerland. A Chinese logistics firm now wants a share of their delivery business.

Helped by heavy advertising and rock-bottom prices Chinese online retailers are squeezing domestic e-commerce firms. Now a Chinese logistics company is following them into the market and may squeeze existing parcel delivery services.

Speedaf is building a parcel-delivery network in Switzerland which could quickly become significant, Stephan Wagner, a logistics professor at ETH Zurich, told SRF. Its planned sorting capacity—up to 50,000 parcels a day—is sizeable for a newcomer. At full tilt, that would amount to roughly 15m parcels a year.

That could make Speedaf a serious rival to Swiss Post and DPD, two of the country’s leading parcel

Low water is making inland shipping less reliable. More freight may move by road and rail, pushing up transport costs—and, eventually, consumer prices.

Rhine At Kaub © Meinzahn | Dreamstime.com

In August the Rhine at Kaub, a key measuring point in Germany, fell to just six centimetres, a record low, according to Reuters. The Rhine was not alone. Rivers across Europe, including the Danube in Hungary and Romania, the Po in Italy and the Loire in France, also reached exceptionally low levels.

Such conditions could become more common. Today, extremely low water levels might be expected to persist for about 40 consecutive days. In future, that figure could rise to 80.

Massimiliano Zappa, who heads meteorological forecasting at the Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) has left its policy rate unchanged at zero, the lowest policy rate in the world.

Photo by Adrien Olichon on Pexels.com

Inflation remains subdued. Consumer prices rose by 0.8% in August, the highest rate in two years but still comfortably within the SNB’s definition of price stability, which covers inflation of between zero and 2%.

The central bank expects inflation to rise to 1.2% in the fourth quarter, largely because of higher oil prices, before easing again during 2027. Its latest forecast puts average annual inflation at between 0.7% and 0.8% in 2026, 2027 and 2028, before edging up to as much as 0.9% in 2029.

The SNB therefore argues that its current monetary stance is consistent with price stability while supporting the economy.

Its

Switzerland appears, at first glance, to be an ideal country in which to measure wealth inequality. It levies an annual personal wealth tax, producing unusually rich tax data. Yet those tax records miss a large share of household wealth. A recent CES ifo paper estimates that roughly half of Swiss private wealth is absent from federal tax statistics, principally because pension assets are tax-exempt and property is recorded at fiscal rather than market values.

Photo by Thomas P on Pexels.com

Correcting these omissions changes the wealth distribution picture substantially. Earlier tax-based estimates suggested that wealth inequality had risen over the past two decades. The authors’ Distributional National Accounts, covering 2003–2022, instead find no pronounced upward trend. Wealth in

Revolut already has 1.3m customers in Switzerland. Now it wants a Swiss banking licence. Why?

A new force may soon emerge in Swiss banking—though it is hardly a newcomer. Revolut, a British fintech firm, already has 1.3m customers in Switzerland.

The firm has applied to the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (Finma) for a banking licence. For now, many Swiss customers use Revolut as a secondary account, particularly when travelling or spending abroad, where its fees are often well below those of traditional banks.

A Swiss licence could help Revolut turn those occasional users into primary customers. It would bolster trust and bring eligible deposits of up to CHF 100,000 per customer within Switzerland’s deposit-protection regime.

More important, it would allow

Switzerland’s housing stock is becoming greener. In 2025 one in four residential buildings was equipped with a heat pump, six times the share in 2000. Among homes built over the past decade, the technology is already dominant: three-quarters use one. Yet oil and gas still heat half of the country’s 1.8m residential buildings.

Photo by alpha innotec on Pexels.com

The figures, published by Switzerland’s Federal Statistical Office, offer a snapshot of a housing system in transition. Oil remains Switzerland’s most common source of residential heating, used in 33% of buildings. But its share has been falling steadily for four decades. Gas accounts for another 17%, though its importance varies sharply with geography: 29% of buildings in urban municipalities use gas, compared with just 4%

Switzerland’s housing market tightened further in 2026 to reach a vacancy rate below 1% for the first time since 2013. On June 1st, 45,493 homes stood empty, according to the Federal Statistical Office (FSO), equivalent to 0.93% of the housing stock.

Photo by Adrien Olichon on Pexels.com

That was 0.07 percentage points lower than a year earlier. The number of vacant homes fell by 2,962, or 6.1%. It was the sixth consecutive annual decline in the vacancy rate, which has fallen by 0.79 percentage points since 2021.

The squeeze has coincided with a sharp rise in rents and a marked shift in the ownership of rental housing. Between 2000 and 2023 the share held by institutional investors, including pension funds, insurers and property companies, rose from about 31% to 44%. Over the

Switzerland may one day charge employers an “entry fee” for recruiting workers from the European Union. The idea, long dismissed as anti-business and potentially incompatible with the country’s agreements with Brussels, is gaining support in Parliament. The Federal Council now backs it too.

Photo by Christian Wasserfallen on Pexels.com

The proposal forms part of Parliament’s debate over Switzerland’s new package of agreements with the EU. It would not create a permanent immigration tax. Instead, the levy could be imposed only if immigration from the EU rose far enough for Switzerland to activate a new safeguard clause.

That clause is designed to give Switzerland more room to respond to unusually high immigration. The Federal Council would set thresholds for indicators including

Swiss households will get some relief from high electricity bills next year. Prices in the regulated basic-supply market will fall by a median 4% in 2027, according to ElCom, the federal electricity regulator. A typical household consuming 4,500kWh a year will pay about CHF 1,194, CHF 53 less than in 2026.

Photo by SHVETS production on Pexels.com

The decline is being driven mainly by cheaper energy procurement. The energy component of the tariff will fall by 6.3%, from 12.11 centimes per kilowatt-hour to 11.35 centimes. Some expensive supply contracts signed during the energy crisis are now expiring, allowing utilities to replace them with cheaper purchases.

That does not mean electricity is becoming cheap. ElCom says tariffs have stabilised at a “rather high level”. The median

On September 27th voters in Vaud will decide whether to cut cantonal income and wealth taxes by 12%. Business groups say the measure would ease the tax burden and bolster purchasing power. The cantonal government, left-wing parties and trade unions warn that it would blow a hole in the public finances.

© Julien Viry | Dreamstime.com

The initiative is one of Vaud’s most fiercely contested cantonal votes in recent years. It was launched by three business organisations: the Vaud Employers’ Association, the Chamber of Real Estate and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In 2023 they collected more than 28,000 signatures, over twice the number required.

The campaign’s central claim is that Vaud taxes its residents too heavily compared with other cantons. Its backers argue that the

This week, a 58.4MW battery-storage plant has opened in Gurtnellen, in the canton of Uri, reported Axpo. It is the largest of its kind in Switzerland, though probably not for long.

[embedded content]

What is it? Switzerland’s biggest battery-storage facility has been connected to the grid in Gurtnellen. The project was developed jointly by Axpo and Energie Uri and inaugurated on Wednesday. Axpo’s share has a capacity of 50MW; Energie Uri’s adds another 8.4MW. Axpo says its facility will serve the national grid, while Energie Uri’s will primarily meet cantonal needs.

Why Gurtnellen? The site at Plattischachen is already an important electricity hub. It is connected to Swissgrid’s national transmission network and is also home to the Arniberg hydroelectric plant, one of the

Switzerland’s gender pay gap narrowed again in 2024. Women earned 15.7% less than men on average, down from 16.2% in 2022, according to the Federal Statistical Office (FSO). The unexplained difference narrowed to 6.5%.

Photo by Sarah Chai on Pexels.com

The trend is longstanding. Across the economy, including both the private and public sectors, the gap stood at 19.0% in 2018 and 18.0% in 2020. The figures are based on gross monthly wages standardised to a full-time workload.

Part of the difference reflects observable characteristics of men and women in the labour market, including education, tenure and seniority. Men and women are not distributed evenly across occupations, industries or management levels so the comparison is somewhat questionable. Pay gaps tend to widen with

Switzerland’s housing market varies significantly by region. The chances of owning a home depend heavily on the canton in which one lives.

Photo by angga samba on Pexels.com

Switzerland’s home-ownership rate is low by European standards, but the national figure hides a much more interesting story. In 2024, 35.7% of permanently occupied homes were owner-occupied. Yet the gap between cantons was enormous.

In Appenzell Innerrhoden, 55.8% of homes were occupied by their owners. In Valais, the rate was 52.6%, and in Jura 48.3%. By contrast, only 14.0% of homes in Basel-Stadt were owner-occupied. Geneva stood at 18.6%, while Zurich was at 27.1% and in Vaud 29.6%.

RankCantonHome-ownership rate1Appenzell Innerrhoden55.8%2Valais / Wallis52.6%3Jura48.3%4Appenzell

Switzerland’s economy grew by 1.6% in real terms in 2025, compared with 1.5% in 2024. The broadly steady pace of expansion was driven mainly by strong domestic demand, which rose by 2.5%. Investment was particularly buoyant, increasing by 3.5%, reported the Federal Statistical Office (FSO).

Swiss francs

The 2025 figure is slightly below Switzerland’s recent long-run norm. Annual real GDP growth from 2005 to 2024, Switzerland grew by about 2.0% a year on average. The period includes the global financial crisis, the pandemic recession and the strong post-pandemic rebound.

Gross national income (GNI), measured at current prices, rose by 2.5%, helped by an improvement in the balance of income with the rest of the world. These first estimates for 2025 also include a small revision to

Employment in Switzerland continued to rise in the second quarter of 2026, according to the Federal Statistical Office. Most of the new jobs were in services, while the number of vacancies was also higher than a year earlier.

Photo by RDNE Stock project on Pexels.com

At the end of June, companies outside agriculture employed 5.698m people. Of these, 2.388m worked part-time. Women accounted for 68.2% of part-time workers. On a full-time-equivalent basis, employment amounted to 4.435m jobs, up by 82,700, or 1.9%, from a year earlier. Women accounted for 40.5% of full-time-equivalent employment.

Overall employment rose by 111,800 jobs, or 2%, year on year. Women made up 46.5% of employees.

Services drive job growthMost of the increase came from the service sector, where

Police in Basel are billing two activists CHF 90,000 for the cost of an operation to remove them from a former chemical site in Klybeck in Basel, reported SRF.

Two cantonal police negotiators talking to the squatters on the afternoon of July 2nd 2026. © Basel-Stadt Cantonal Police

The eviction in early July attracted attention beyond Basel. Two activists, a man and a woman, remained on the edge of the roof of a high-rise building at the former Klybeck chemical plant in Kleinbasel while police officers tried to persuade them to come down. They did so only the following day.

The activists occupied the empty buildings after turning them into a self-managed cultural centre, organising concerts, meals, film screenings and other activities. They argued that Basel lacks affordable,

Switzerland and China have concluded negotiations on an upgraded trade agreement that would remove tariffs on almost all Swiss exports to China.

Source: X

Guy Parmelin, Switzerland’s economy minister, and Wang Wentao, his Chinese counterpart, announced the deal on Thursday. Under the revised agreement, 99.8% of current Swiss exports to China would eventually be exempt from customs duties, the Swiss government said.

Bern estimates that Swiss exporters could save around CHF 244m a year. Roughly three-quarters of the new tariff exemptions would take effect as soon as the agreement entered into force. Mr Parmelin and Mr Wang signed a memorandum of understanding in Bern on Thursday.

Ten-year phase-in for cheeseThe agreement is expected to be formally signed this year. Cutting the

A committee of Switzerland’s Council of States wants to introduce an immigration levy on workers from the European Union if migration rises sharply after the Bilateral Agreements III enter into force, reported RTS.

Photo by Daniel Kružík on Pexels.com

Andrea Caroni, a member of the Council of States, says the measure could be used only after the Federal Council had successfully invoked the safeguard clause. Someone who had recently immigrated to Switzerland would then have to pay a fee once a year.

Mr Caroni said the levy would amount to at least CHF 4,000 a year. A lower charge would apply to people arriving under family reunification rules.

All the revenue raised would be redistributed to the population. Once the safeguard clause had been activated, the levy would also apply

With inflation running at just 0.4%, the battle over wages in 2027 may be as much about productivity growth as lost purchasing power. In any case Switzerland’s wage negotiations for 2027 are shaping up to be contentious.

Photo by Sergey Sergeev on Pexels.com

Travail.Suisse, a trade-union federation, is demanding an across-the-board pay rise of 2%. The Swiss Employers’ Association, by contrast, reckons an average increase of around 1% would be more realistic.

The unions’ demand is an average and varies considerably by industry. In healthcare, Syna, one of Travail.Suisse’s member unions, is calling for increases of 5-6%, arguing that modest wage settlements in recent years have badly eroded workers’ purchasing power.

Travail.Suisse’s case rests less on today’s inflation than on

Consumer prices declined in July, underscoring how different Switzerland’s inflation story is from much of the world. Over the month the consumer-price index fell by 0.1% from June, leaving prices just 0.4% higher than a year earlier, according to the Federal Statistical Office (FSO). Core inflation, which strips out fresh and seasonal products, energy and fuel, was even weaker, at 0.3% year on year.

Photo by Ian Gabaraev on Pexels.com

The monthly decline owed much to cheaper travel, fuel and clothes. International air fares fell by 4.3% from June, diesel by 5.8% and petrol by 2.4%. Seasonal sales pushed clothing and footwear prices down by 8.5%, making the category the largest decliner among the main spending groups.

Healthcare costs were unchanged in July and 0.5% lower than a

This week, the Federal Council said it opposes the popular initiative “For a sustainable and future-oriented financial centre in Switzerland” and has also rejected the idea of a counter-proposal. reported SRF.

Photo by liza sigareva on Pexels.com

The initiative’s backers say it is intended to ensure that the Swiss financial centre no longer contributes to environmental damage and climate change through its activities worldwide. The campaign committee includes representatives of the Socialist Party, the Centre Party, the Free Democratic Party (PLR/FDP), the Greens, the Green Liberal Party and the Evangelical People’s Party, as well as figures from finance and civil society.

If approved by voters and the cantons, the initiative would require the federal government to ensure that

With parliament due to debate Switzerland’s package of agreements with the European Union next month, a committee in the upper house has rejected measures intended to protect wages, reported RTS. One has become particularly contentious: stronger safeguards for workers’ representatives against unfair dismissal. Trade unions now warn that they may oppose the agreements altogether.

Photo by Christian Wasserfallen on Pexels.com

The economic-affairs committee of the Council of States said on Tuesday that it had rejected measure 14, which was intended to protect elected employee representatives within companies. The proposal was defeated by eight votes to four, with one abstention. The committee argued that it was not directly related to the EU package, despite support from the federal

A report by Switzerland’s Federal Audit Office (SFAO) showing that most discounts on medicines are not passed on to insured patients, as required by law, has prompted an angry response from parliamentarians. Speaking to RTS on Thursday, Baptiste Hurni, a Socialist Party MP, described the practice as organised theft.

Photo by https://kaboompics.com/ on Pexels.com

According to the SFAO report, published on Wednesday, pharmacists, hospitals and doctors’ surgeries retain part of the discounts they receive on the purchase price of medicines. These savings should, under Swiss law, be passed on to health insurers and policyholders.

The watchdog estimates that the pharmaceutical industry grants discounts worth CHF 743m a year. Only CHF 88m, or 12% of that amount, is passed on.

Thomas

Switzerland’s residential battery market is growing fast. Around half of new photovoltaic installations are now paired with storage, according to Swissolar. Falling battery prices, lower payments for surplus solar power and the prospect of more flexible electricity tariffs are all helping to drive demand. But popularity should not be confused with profitability.

In Switzerland, solar power already supplies about 14% of electricity demand. That creates a new problem: what to do with the surplus, when on sunny days generation exceeds consumption. Batteries offer one answer. More owners of single-family homes are pairing photovoltaic panels with storage, allowing excess power generated during the day to be used later. Used intelligently, these batteries can attenuate peaks in demand