Tag Archives: Editor’s Choice

On 17 May 2023, Interpharma and Santésuisse published their annual report showing drug price comparisons across Europe. Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.comThe good news is the drug price gap between Switzerland and its neighbours has narrowed. The extra paid for on-patent drugs in Switzerland is now 5.4% on average. However, the price premium paid for generic (+45.5%) and biosimilar (+27.5%) off-patent drugs remains enormous – generic drugs are simple compounds where the composition is...

On 15 May 2023, the Federal Statistical Office published its latest residential property price index. During the first quarter of 2023, average Swiss home prices fell by 1.2%, leaving them 3.9% higher than a year before. Photo by marishalaugh on Pexels.comStand alone houses dropped in price by 1.3% while apartments lost 1.1% of their value over the three months to 31 March 2023. Homes losing the greatest value during the quarter were stand alone houses in rural areas (-4.5%). Apartments...

Last weekend, the PLR/FDP unveiled a plan to create a budget low cost health insurance option in Switzerland, reported RTS. Photo by Anna Shvets on Pexels.comThe proposal, which includes lower cost ways of delivering healthcare, will be presented to parliament next month. Examples of ways to lower costs include limiting the choice of hospital and sharing hospital rooms with more patients or in less luxurious surroundings. The plan is a response to rising health insurance premiums...

Last weekend, the PLR/FDP unveiled a plan to create a budget low cost health insurance option in Switzerland, reported RTS. Photo by Anna Shvets on Pexels.comThe proposal, which includes lower cost ways of delivering healthcare, will be presented to parliament next month. Examples of ways to lower costs include limiting the choice of hospital and sharing hospital rooms with more patients or in less luxurious surroundings. The plan is a response to rising health...

This week, the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) published its predictions and ambitions for electric transport infrastructure. Photo by Gustavo Fring on Pexels.comBy 2035, SFOE expects more than half of all passenger cars in Switzerland to be electric. This means the country has around 12 years to complete its charging infrastructure, it said. The SFOE study estimates there will be 2.8 million plug-in vehicles on Swiss roads by 2035, and by 2050 they should be the dominant type of...

This week, the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) published its predictions and ambitions for electric transport infrastructure. Photo by Gustavo Fring on Pexels.comBy 2035, SFOE expects more than half of all passenger cars in Switzerland to be electric. This means the country has around 12 years to complete its charging infrastructure, it said. The SFOE study estimates there will be 2.8 million plug-in vehicles on Swiss roads by 2035, and by 2050 they should be...

Last week, Switzerland’s federal parliament voted in favour of adding an annual public holiday to celebrate democracy. This week, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), said the extra day off would cost the economy CHF 350 million, reported RTS. Photo by Miraze Dewan on Pexels.comThe CHF 350 million sum was calculated by comparing the GDP in years when Christmas falls on a Sunday to years when it doesn’t. However, the cost doesn’t not fall evenly on all businesses. A...

In 2022, together, Switzerland’s cantons were expected to spend CHF 1.1 billion more than they brought in from taxes. Instead, they made a collective profit of CHF 3.5 billion, a positive delta of CHF 4.6 billion, reported RTS. Photo by Nate Hovee on Pexels.comSwitzerland collects tax at three levels: municipal, cantonal and federal. Cantonal taxes are typically the largest slice. This money covers the cost of key services such as health, education and welfare. In 2022, a total of 16...

Many Swiss politicians and members of the public remain angry about the recent rushed government deal to head off the potential collapse of Credit Suisse. This week a majority of the National Council, Switzerland’s federal parliament, voted in favour of measures to reduce the risk systemic big banks pose to taxpayers, reported RTS. © Pincasso | Dreamstime.comSpearheaded by Prisca Birrer-Heimo, a member of the Socialist Party in Luzern, the National Council voted in favour of two changes....

On 2 May 2023, Switzerland’s Federal Statistical Office published its annual report on income, poverty and living conditions. In 2021, 448,000 people, 5.2% of the population, refrained from buying goods, services and social activities for financial reasons, something described as material and social deprivation. And Switzerland’s poverty rate was 8.7%. At the same time, the overall standard of living in Switzerland remains one of the highest in Europe. Photo by Oleksandr Pidvalnyi on...