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Swiss healthcare costs of 12.2% of GDP are the world’s second highest after the United States where healthcare consumes 17.1% of GDP, according to 2016 figures presented by the Federal Statistical Office on 18 October 2018. © Victorrustle | Dreamstime.com Switzerland spent CHF 80.5 billion on healthcare in 2016, the latest figures reveal. This comes out at around CHF 9,600 per resident per year across all age groups. The percentage of GDP spent on healthcare in Switzerland was 5.2% in 1960,...

In 2017, 15,906 couples in Switzerland got divorced after an average of 15.1 years together. The majority (56%) split before their 15th anniversary. © Bacho12345 | Dreamstime.com In 2017, 40.5% of those married for more than 30 years were divorced, compared to 40.3% in 2016. Breaking up after 30 years of marriage has been rising since records began in 1920 and has risen from 24.7% to 40.5% over the last 20 years. However, while the rate of divorce after 30 years of marriage has risen, the...

More bad news for Swiss household budgets was released today for residents of all but three Swiss cantons. © Hai Huy Ton That _ Dreamstime.com Health insurance premiums in 2019 will be on average 1.2% higher than in 2018 across Switzerland as a whole. However, within this figure there are significant cantonal variations. Hardest hit will be residents of Valais (+3.6%) and Neuchâtel (+3.1%), while those of Appenzell Inherrhoden (-1.5%), Uri (-1.5%) and Zug (+0%) will be spared a shock induced...

Recent government figures show a 13% rise in the number of vacant homes over the 12 months to June 2018. The number has more than doubled since 2009 when there were close to 35,000 vacant dwellings. By 1 June 2018, there were more than 72,000, a vacancy rate of 1.62%1 This might sound like good news for home buyers and renters, however it depends on where you hope to live. Drilling down to a regional level, home-shortage hot spots begin to appear. Greater Geneva (0.6%) and Lausanne (0.7%)...

After listening to the culprit claim she had committed the fraud to help her family, the judge sentenced her to deportation, according to the newspaper 20 Minutes. © Edward Olive | Dreamstime.com For the judge, the woman’s latest act of fraud, claiming unemployment benefits while working, was the straw that broke the camel’s back. This was the woman’s third welfare fraud offense. She would have been deported earlier if she hadn’t been pregnant. Previously, her husband had been deported but...

Ticket machines once replaced many of the people selling ticket from counters. Now the internet and mobile phones threatens ticket machines. © Hai Huy Ton That | Dreamstime.com As more and more people use dash past ticket machines with an electronic train ticket in their pocket, Swiss Rail is looking at phasing out some machines according to various newspapers including 20 Minutes. The 150 machines selling fewer than 20 tickets a day have been singled out, reported Keystone-ATS. These...

Switzerland’s agricultural sector costs the country CHF 19.9 billion while contributing only CHF 3.4 billion, concludes a study published by the think tank Avenir Suisse. © Denis Linine | Dreamstime.com The CHF 19.9 billion cost is made up of tax breaks and direct federal and cantonal payments to the sector (4.9b), the cost of artificially inflated consumer prices due to import restrictions (4.6b), environmental damage (7.3b), and the cost to export businesses (3.1b) from agricultural trade...

The idea is simple. Keep costs low by flying point-to-point, thus avoiding costly hubs, use one model of aircraft to contain pilot and aircraft maintenance costs, and charge passengers for everything from coffee to checked-in luggage. Southwest Airlines was first to launch the model and copycats like EasyJet followed. First transatlantic flight of an Airbus A321LR © Airbus Now a new, yet to be named, airline plans to offer direct flights from Basel-Mulhouse to cities in North America, with...

Starting in September 2018, health insurance premiums in excess of 12% of income in the canton of Vaud will be covered by the government. From the beginning of 2019, this percentage will be reduced to 10%, increasing the number of people who qualify and the size of the subsidies, according to the newspaper Le Matin. © Bernhard Richter _ Dreamstime.com The new system will replace the current system of health insurance subsidies. The subsidies cover only basic, not complementary insurance, and...

In 2016, Switzerland exported CHF 412 million of weapons, according to the Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO). © Brett Hondow | Dreamstime.com This ranks Switzerland 11th globally, according to RTS. The five largest importers of Swiss weapons were Germany, South Africa, the US, India and Pakistan. Weapons exports made up only 0.14% of Switzerland’s total exports in 2016, said the SFAO. The SFAO report said that all war material exports in 2016 which were checked by the SFAO were correctly...