Tag Archives: Business & Economy

Climate change could soon cost Switzerland up to a billion francs a year in damage to infrastructure, according to an estimate by Switzerland’s Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC). © Stefano Ember | Dreamstime.comBetween now and 2050, higher temperatures and irregular rainfall could reduce the amount of electricity produced by Switzerland’s hydroelectric infrastructure by several hundred million francs a year, according to Christian Jaag, an...

Every quarter UBS, a bank, publishes its real estate bubble index, a report that covers real estate prices in 24 cities around the world. © Ppvector | Dreamstime.comIn the third quarter of 2019, Munich was listed as the most overvalued housing market in the world. Bubble risk was highest in Munich, Toronto, Hong Kong and Amsterdam. Frankfurt, Vancouver and Paris. London moved out of bubble risk territory while Paris and Frankfurt entered the risk zone for the first time....

In December 2017, the European Union (EU) set up a blacklist and a grey list of tax havens, countries it deemed were being used to help companies and wealthy individuals reduce their tax bills. Switzerland ended up on the grey list. © Neydtstock | Dreamstime.comNations on these lists faced reputational damage and stricter controls on financial transactions with the EU. On 10 October 2019, the European Commission reviewed the lists and removed Switzerland from the grey list after...

Switzerland made the the top 5, after dropping from 4th to 5th, in this year’s World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Competitiveness Index. Switzerland’s decline was largely due to a down weighting of a factor where it is strong, according to WEF’s Saadia Zahidi. Solar Impulse 2 – an example of Swiss innovation – © Ryan Fletcher | Dreamstime.comThe Global Competitive Index measures performance in 114 areas that influence a nation’s productivity. Productivity, a measure of how much value is...

A majority of the Council of States, Switzerland’s upper house, recently agreed to raise the tax on fuel and introduce a tax on flights. The plan was accepted by 37 of the 41 members who voted, according to 20 Minutes. © Sergio Brunetti | Dreamstime.comTo honour its commitment to the Paris climate agreement, Switzerland needs to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 50% between now and 2030. Early in 2019, a similar plan found no clear majority in parliament or the executive. This new...

After years of stalemate an updated double taxation agreement (DTA) between Switzerland and the United States has been ratified and is now in force. American and Swiss representatives signed the necessary documents last week. #AmbMcMullen and State Secretary Daniela Stoffel at the @efd_dff exchanged instruments of ratification of the Protocol of Amendment to the Double Taxation Treaty today in Bern, representing a milestone in tax relations between the ?? and ??. @USTreasury...

As more baby-boomers – born from 1946 to 1964 – retire, Switzerland will faces a shortage of workers, according to Credit Suisse, a bank. © Georgerudy | Dreamstime.comEconomists at the bank estimate that 1.1 million people in Switzerland will retire over the next 10 years, a figure which includes nearly 800,000 people currently working. By 2021, there will be more people leaving the job market than joining it. The current peak in Switzerland’s age pyramid is 55 years old, the age of...

With the celebration over, attention has shifted to the cost of the Fête des vignerons, Vevey’s once-in-25-year winegrowers festival. Vevey’s Fête des vignerons set to make a large lossAs the bills come in it looks like the festival will make a loss of CHF 16 million, according to the François Margot, who was interviewed by the newspaper 24 heures. Fête des Vignerons: “Le manque à gagner sur les spectacles de jour est de 16 millions.”https://t.co/ww5AqMcl7E— 24heures (@24heuresch)...

In 1998, GDP per person in Switzerland was CHF 59,693. Recently published statistics put the figure at CHF 80,986 in 2018, a rise of 36%.  © Mr.siwabud Veerapaisarn | Dreamstime.comWhen Swiss GDP per capita is expressed in globally comparable US dollar terms its rise is even greater. In US dollar terms Swiss GDP per capita grew from US$ 41,497 to US$ 82,839 between 1998 and 2018, a rise of 100%. In Germany the same figure went from US$ 27,341 to US$ 48,196, a rise of 76%, in France...

Recently, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) unveiled the new 100 franc banknote. Only one note missing – © Janusz Pieńkowski | Dreamstime.com The note’s design is inspired by Switzerland’s tradition of humanitarianism, represented on the note by water. The note remains blue but is much smaller than the existing one, making it easier to fit into wallets. The note is the last one in Switzerland’s ninth series of notes to be updated. Updating the series began in April 2016...