Tag Archives: Editor’s Choice

Swiss ski resorts bounced back in 2021/22 after the Covid-19 pandemic hit the industry hard, reports the Swiss association of mountain lift operators. © Jill Meyer | Dreamstime.comMarch 2022 was a particularly good month for the sector. Dry sunny weather combined with the ending of Covid-19 restrictions led to a 32% year-on-year jump in the number of mountain lift tickets sold and a 37% increase in sales. Over the 2021/22 winter season, ticket numbers (+15%) and sales (+19%) were both...

The number of Swiss job advertisements rose 47% in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the same quarter in the previous year, a record rise, reported the employment agency Adecco. Photo by Tim Samuel on Pexels.comJob hunters in Switzerland face much better prospects than they have in a long time, said the agency, particularly those with highly sought after digital skills. The data behind the Adecco Group Swiss Job Market Index is compiled by the University of Zurich. 7% more jobs...

Switzerland’s leaders are concerned by the current volatility of electricity prices and have started planning for a potential disaster scenario, reported RTS. Photo by Pok Rie on Pexels.comThe war in Ukraine has impacted energy provision across Europe, said Swiss energy minister Simonetta Sommaruga on Thursday. Price movements have reached historical levels and could worsen if gas supplies from Russia stop. If the price of gas spikes, some electricity suppliers could experience a...

According to the newspaper Le Matin Swiss health insurance premiums could rise by 7% to 9%, reported RTS. Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.comThe future rise in the cost of health insurance is estimated based on data on the rising healthcare costs being passed on to health insurance companies. According to the data, costs rose during the second half of 2021. Across all of 2021 costs were up by 5.1% and the trend appears to have continued. Several politicians...

In 2021, the total number of bankruptcy proceedings opened against businesses and individuals rose by 9.1% compared with 2020, reported the Federal Statistical Office this week. Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.comAt a cantonal level, Aargau recorded the greatest relative increase (+24.6%). The number of debt collection proceedings increased slightly, but remained within the average range of the past five years. The recent increase in bankruptcies is probably related to measures...

A recent survey run by ZHAW finds that the price of housing is too high for the majority of people wishing to own their own home in Switzerland. Aspiring home owners would like to see greater support. Photo by MART PRODUCTION on Pexels.comSwitzerland is a nation of renters, something reflected in low home ownership rates by international standards. Across Switzerland, only 36% of the population lived in a home owned by it occupants in 2020. Homeownership ranged from 15% in Basel-City to...

On 5 April 2022, the European Patent Office (EPO) released data on European patent applications for 2021. With 8,442 filings across the year, Switzerland was ranked seventh overall behind the US (46,533), Germany (25,969), Japan (21,681), China (16,865), France (10,537) and South Korea (9,394). Photo by Chokniti Khongchum on Pexels.comHowever, on a per capita basis Switzerland was first by a wide margin with 969 applications per million residents. Switzerland had nearly double the per...

According to the newspaper Le Matin Swiss health insurance premiums could rise by 7% to 9%, reported RTS. Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.comThe future rise in the cost of health insurance is estimated based on data on the rising healthcare costs being passed on to health insurance companies. According to the data, costs rose during the second half of 2021. Across all of 2021 costs were up by 5.1% and the trend appears to have continued. Several politicians interviewed on the...

On 1 April 2022, Switzerland’s Federal Statistical Office published March inflation data, which show prices 2.4% higher than one year ago. © Bigpressphoto | Dreamstime.comSwitzerland’s consumer price index (CPI) increased by 0.6% in March 2022 compared with the previous month. Inflation was +2.4% compared with the same month of the previous year. Swiss prices were driven higher by rising energy costs, which fed through into the cost of heating, transport – air transport in particular,...

Under public pressure Swiss food giant Nestlé announced it would pull certain brands in Russia. © Aleksei Filatov | Dreamstime.comAfter fierce criticism from Ukrainian politicians and members of the public the firm said it would continue to sell essential foods while pulling popular brands such as KitKat and Nesquik. A growing number of western brands have suspended their operations in Russia in protest at the war in Ukraine. A spokesperson for Nestlé said “We are fully complying...