Tag Archives: 3.) Swissinfo Business and Economy

Apartment buildings and other accommodation in St Moritz, canton Graubünden. The canton registered the biggest rent increases last year (6.7%). Keystone / Gian Ehrenzeller Rents in Switzerland rose by an average of 2.8% last year, the largest annual increase in 14 years. Switzerland is unique in Europe with the majority of residents living in rented accommodation. The 2022 increase is the biggest since the annual rent survey began in 2009, according to the Homegate...

The escalating cost of food and other goods is putting an increasing strain on many societies. © Keystone / Gaetan Bally Global stability is most threatened by rising food and energy costs, climate-related disasters and the risk of further military conflict, according to 1,200 experts canvassed by the World Economic Forum (WEF). The WEF Global Risks Report 2023 reflects the concerns of political and business leaders around the world. The soaring cost of living has...

Switzerland’s Tête de Moine (Monk’s Head) cheese broke all-time sales and production records last year, due particularly to its “conviviality”, according to the sector’s president. Tête de Moine sold 3,300 tons sold worldwide in 2022, up 3.7% on the previous year, despite a difficult economic climate marked by the strong Swiss franc and war in Ukraine. The main export markets are Germany and France, sector president Jacques Gygax said on Monday. Gygax put this...

The rate of unemployment in Switzerland fell to 2.2% last year, the lowest rate in 20 years, according to official statistics. At the same time, trade unions complained that wages were too low for many workers and demanded more pay. On Monday, the State Secretariat for Economic affairs (Seco) said the jobless rate fell from 3% in 2021 to 2.2% last year. This corresponds to 99,577 people registered as out of work on average each month. The number of jobless...

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) has posted an annual loss of CHF132 billion ($143 billion) for 2022, the biggest in its 115-year history. “The loss on foreign currency positions amounted to around CHF131 billion and the loss on Swiss franc positions was around CHF1 billion. A valuation gain of CHF400 million was recorded on gold holdings,” the SNB said in a statement on Monday. The 2022 loss means the SNB will not make its usual payout to the Swiss federal and cantonal...

Data centres are expanding rapidly in Switzerland, with such facilities already accounting for 4% of national energy – more than the farming sector. The SonntagsZeitung reports that Switzerland is now home to 86 data centres, and only Netherlands has a higher rate per capita in Europe. The paper cites a 2021 study by the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts estimating that the energy usage of Swiss data centres will double in the next five years,...

Visitors travelling to the mountain town of Davos for this month’s World Economic Forum (WEF) could face pricey rates, according to Swiss media. The Schweiz am Wochenende newspaper writes on Saturday that a three-bed studio in the canton Graubünden town costs CHF2,600 ($2,800) per night during the WEF, runs from January 16-20. With service charges and cleaning, this comes to CHF15,000 for the five nights of the event, the paper writes. In February, the same...

A former top lobbyist for Uber says the firm wilfully ignored regulations when it began operating in Switzerland in 2013. Uber says it has since updated its working model. By choosing to act first and apologise later in implementing its gig-economy model, Uber “massively undermined” democracy in many countries, including Switzerland, former lobbyist Mark MacGann told Tamedia newspapers on Saturday. MacGann was Uber’s chief lobbyist in Europe between 2014 and 2016...

Travellers at Geneva airport in December © Keystone / Jean-christophe Bott While countries around the world impose curbs on travellers from China as Covid-19 cases there surge, the Swiss authorities are still weighing up possible measures. On Wednesday health experts from the 27 EU member states couldn’t agree on compulsory testing for travellers from China, but they strongly recommended it. The EU health experts also recommended, among other things, that medical...

Keystone / Ennio Leanza A total of 50,015 companies set up in Switzerland last year thanks to a late surge in the last quarter. The number of new firms entering the marketplace has remained stable. The total corresponds to a drop of 1% compared to 2021 and an increase of 7% compared to 2020, according to data from commercial registers compiled by Help.ch published on Tuesday. The performance in 2022 is 27% higher than ten years ago, when 39,371 companies were...