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On December 2021, the Swiss government allocated CHF 45.4 million to three hydro projects. © Asdf_1 | Dreamstime.comSwitzerland’s electricity production was once dominated by hydro. In 1970, 90% of the electricity produced in Switzerland was generated using hydro. The remainder came from nuclear (5%) and fossil fuels (5%). Roll forward to 2020 and hydro makes up only 58% of production, with 5% produced from other renewables, 33% from nuclear and 5% from fossil fuels. Between 1970 and...

In Switzerland, the official state pension age is 65 for men and 64 for women. Government plans to make the retirement age 65 for both men and women have met with resistance from groups fighting against gender discrimination in Switzerland. © Ammentorp | Dreamstime.comThe change would not affect women about to retire, and those born between 1960 and 1968 would receive some extra compensatory pension payments. Groups against the move argue that the extra year of state pension women...

As inflation rises around the world, Switzerland feels the heat too. This week the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) published data on construction, which show an unusually large jump in costs. © Spunky1234 | Dreamstime.comThe costs of construction leapt 2.7% between April and October 2021, according to the data, leaving prices 4.1% higher than a year earlier. The construction index contains both civil engineering works and building construction. Between April and October 2021, the...

The Federal Council has decided to remove the 1% investment stamp duty charged on capital invested in Swiss companies. A majority of parliament are also in favour of the decision. However, some politicians are against the change and have launched a referendum against it. This week the government defended its plan. © Giuseppe De Filippo | Dreamstime.comSwitzerland’s relatively low corporate tax rates are one reason some international businesses choose Switzerland as an international base....

Switzerland might not lead Europe on average income (GDP), but it wins on cost, according to recent Eurostat data. © Daniele Mezzadri | Dreamstime.comThe nations leading on per capita income in 2020 were Luxembourg and Ireland. Average GDP per resident was 2.63 times the EU average in Luxembourg and 2.09 times in Ireland. Average residents of Switzerland, came in third with GDP per head of 1.60 times the EU average. However, on costs, Switzerland takes the lead with prices 1.59 times...

The world is getting tougher on tobacco. This week, New Zealand’s government announced plans to make it illegal to sell cigarettes to anyone born after 2008. In Switzerland, where cigarettes are around 40% of the price in New Zealand, an anti-smoking association has called for prices to be hiked from CHF 8 to CHF 14 a packet, reported 20 Minutes. © Jaochainoi | Dreamstime.comAccording to the Swiss Association for Tobacco Control (AT), hiking the price of cigarettes will cut the number of...

According to the latest report by the U.S. Department of the Treasury released this week, Switzerland is no longer defined as a currency manipulator, a status it has held for some time. © Diego Grandi | Dreamstime.comTo be classified as a currency manipulator by the U.S. Treasury a nation has to fulfil three criteria. It has to have a bilateral trade surplus with the United States of at least $15 billion, a current account surplus of at least 3% of GDP and a persistent, one-sided...

The latest Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) survey of the prices of 200 goods and services in 173 cities placed both Geneva and Zurich in the top 10 most expensive cities in 2021. © Giuseppe De Filippo | Dreamstime.comOverall, the cost of living across these 173 cities has risen by an average of 3.5%, the highest inflation seen in the last 5 years. This compares with inflation of just 1.9% in 2020 and 2.8% in 2019. Supply-chain problems, as well as exchange-rate shifts and changing...

The gross mean household income in Switzerland was CHF 114,984 (US$ 125,000) in 2019, according to the Federal Statistical Office (FSO). © Petrina Calabalic | Dreamstime.comOverall, 40% of households in Switzerland had income over this mean while 60% brought in less. 73% of this income came from working, 23% came from pensions, welfare and household transfers such as alimony, and 4% from investment income. In many places an income this high would offer a life of mild extravagance....

This week, the Federal Council rejected two very different initiatives aimed at changing the state pension system. © Marlon Trottmann _ Dreamstime.comIn common with much of the developed world, Switzerland is facing a large gap between the money required to fund state pensions and the money flowing in to pay for them, a challenge driven by increasing life expectancy, a rise in the number of pensioners as the population ages and the way the system is funded. Switzerland’s government is...