le News

Despite the economic impacts of the coronavirus, significantly fewer Swiss companies went bankrupt in 2020 than the year before, according to the business data company Bisnode. © Sylvain Robin | Dreamstime.comDuring 2020, 3,811 Swiss companies filed for bankruptcy, 19% fewer than in 2019. Sectors that experienced the greatest fall in bankruptcies include artisans (-174 bankruptcies), hotels and restaurants (-124), retailers (-68) and wholesalers (-66). The slowdown in company failures...

18% of Swiss adults are convinced their financial situation will worsen in 2021, according to a survey. © Photosbypanda | Dreamstime.comThis percentage is markedly higher than at the end of 2019 when the same figure was 13%. The rise in pessimism is largely linked to job insecurity. 68% are concerned they will face full or partial unemployment, while the self-employed worry they will get less business. In addition, 46% fear continued rises in health insurance premiums. More...

On 1 January 2021, Swiss pump prices are set to rise by 3.7 cents per litre. © Frischschoggi | Dreamstime.comFrom 1 January 2021, the total taxes on a litre of petrol and diesel in Switzerland will be 77 and 80 cents respectively. At a price of CHF 1.50 litre, taxes will make up over half the price of a litre of fuel in Switzerland. The 3.7 cent tax hike, which is set to run until 2028, was adopted by the Federal Council on 1 July 2020. The increase aims to allow the government to...

Normally Geneva airport is overrun with passengers during the Christmas period. This year there were 84% fewer passengers than last year, according to RTS. © Hai Huy Ton That | Dreamstime.comBetween 23 and 27 December 2020, there were around 47,000 passengers, down from the 300,000 that passed through the airport during the same period in 2019. The largest number of passengers typically depart for Portugal, followed by France, Spain, Italy, the UAE and the Netherlands. The flow in the...

This week, the US Treasury reviewed and assessed the currency policies of 20 major U.S. trading partners during the four quarters ending June 2020. © Marekusz | Dreamstime.comThe report concluded that both Vietnam and Switzerland met all three criteria for currency manipulation under the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015. The three tests include a significant bilateral trade surplus with the United States, a material current account surplus of at least 2% of GDP over...

On 16 December 2020, Switzerland’s Council of States, the nation’s upper house, accepted a 2021 budget deeply in the red following its acceptance last week by the National Council. © Denis Linine | Dreamstime.comIn 2021, Switzerland’s federal government plans to collect CHF 75.8 billion while spending CHF 81.9 billion, plunging the budget CHF 6.1 billion into the red. The pandemic has significantly increased spending. Spending in 2021 is expected to be 8.8% higher than in 2020 and the...

Switzerland’s health system is rated highly by the public, according to the latest survey conducted in eleven countries by the Commonwealth Fund Foundation. © Alexey Novikov | Dreamstime.comEvery 3 years, the Foundation conducts a survey of the general population in eleven countries to investigate experiences of the health system. 88% of the 2,284 people surveyed across all of Switzerland rated the overall performance of Switzerland’s health system as good or very good. These results...

Every three months the benchmark interest rate used to set Swiss rents is reviewed. If it goes down some renters can request a decrease in rent. This time it remained at 1.25%. © Sergei Razvodovskij | Dreamstime.comThe last time it dropped was March 2020 when it fell from 1.5% to 1.25%, its lowest level since the measure began in 2008. The rate is based on the average Swiss mortgage rate over three months. This rate is then rounded to the nearest 0.25%. On 30 September 2020 that rate...

Over the third quarter of 2020, home prices in Switzerland rose by an average of 0.2%. However, the prices of some homes rose while others fell. © Sergey Dzyuba | Dreamstime.comAccording to figures published by Switzerland’s federal statistical office, the price of individual houses rose 1.1% while the price of apartments fell by 0.6%. The price rise for individual houses was particularly high in suburban areas near large cities (+2.6%) and in rural communes (+2.2%). Apartments in...

This week, Easyjet announced its first ever annual loss of nearly £1.3 billion, its only loss in 25 years of operating. © Dennis Dolkens | Dreamstime.comAs Covid-19 grounded the airline’s planes, revenue disappeared. Revenues for the year to 30 September 2020, were reduced to £3 billion, only 47% of the £6.4 billion earned the year before. Costs were cut by £1.7 billion from £6.0 billion to £4.3 billion, a drop of 28%. However, this was not enough to cover the £3.4 billion fall in...