Tag Archives: Personal finance

The amount of time spent working in Switzerland has been steadily declining since 2010, according to recent statistics from the Federal Statistical Office (FSO). © Andrey Armyagov | Dreamstime.comIn 2020, an employed person worked an average of 1,495 hours a year in Switzerland, 7.2% or 13.8 days less than in 2010. To reveal the sharp drop in work hours in 2020 due to interruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic the data is split into the periods between 2010-2019 and 2019-2020....

In 2022, under the national financial equalisation mechanism, 6 cantons will transfer some of their tax revenue to Switzerland’s 20 other cantons. © Swisshippo | Dreamstime.comSwitzerland’s cantons have very different tax bases, costs and tax rates. Taxes in Switzerland are comprised of federal taxes, cantonal taxes and municipal taxes. Federal taxes are the same across all of Switzerland. However, cantonal and municipal taxes range significantly. Before 2008, all of the cantonal...

This week, the government of the canton of Geneva changed a law to require non residential buildings, with some exceptions, to switch off their lights at night between 1am and 6am. Thursday’s parliamentary vote in favour of the move is expected to cut the canton’s electricity consumption by at least 1%. During parts of winter, Switzerland imports electricity to keep its lights on. In November 2021, Switzerland’s president warned the nation to prepare for electricity shortages. Lighting...

This week, Switzerland’s Federal Statistical Office published the latest cantonal GDP figures. Switzerland’s overall GDP growth in 2019 was 1.2%. However there were wide cantonal differences. © Eva Bocek | Dreamstime.comThe six fastest growing cantons in 2019 were Obwalden (+3.5%), Glarus (+3.2%), Zug (+2.7%), Basel-City (+2.6%), Luzern (+2.6%) and Valais (+2.5%). At the other end of the spectrum were the cantons of Basel-Landschaft (-0.1%), Nidwalden (-0.3%) and Zurich (-0.5%). To...

At the end of October 2021, annual inflation in Switzerland reached 1.2% after rising 0.3% over the month, according to the Federal Statistical Office. This is the highest the annual rate has been since August 2018 when it reached 1.2%. © Cameracraft8 | Dreamstime.comThe price rises hitting Swiss pockets the hardest over the last 12 months include rent (+1.4%), heating (+12.0%) and transport (+7.3%). Rising fuel prices are behind the jumps in heating and transport costs. On the other...

© Ginasanders | Dreamstime.com The latest forecast for 2021 shows a deficit of CHF 14.8 billion, down CHF 2.6 billion from an earlier forecast shortfall of CHF 17.4 billion. The deficit is driven mainly by the extraordinary cost of responding to the Covid-19 pandemic. The federal government expects to spend CHF 4.1 billion on vaccines (1.2) and tests (2.5) in 2021. However, the largest share of extra spending is on full and partial unemployment benefits (6.9)....

The latest forecast for 2021 shows a deficit of CHF 14.8 billion, down CHF 2.6 billion from an earlier forecast shortfall of CHF 17.4 billion. The deficit is driven mainly by the extraordinary cost of responding to the Covid-19 pandemic. © Ginasanders | Dreamstime.comThe federal government expects to spend CHF 4.1 billion on vaccines (1.2) and tests (2.5) in 2021. However, the largest share of extra spending is on full and partial unemployment benefits (6.9). Another CHF 4.8 billion has...

Geo-blocking is the practice of pushing online shoppers to a version of a website based on their geographic location. Many consumers would like to see the practice made illegal and Swiss laws look set to make it so, according to the NZZ am Sonntag, reported Le Matin. © Shutter999 | Dreamstime.comGeo-blocking and filtering is particularly pernicious in a place like Switzerland where prices are generally much higher than the rest of Europe. There are broadly two kinds of geography-based...

© Mcherevan | Dreamstime.com Unemployment fell from 2.7% to 2.6% in September 2021 in Switzerland, with a sharp drop among those aged 15 to 24, reported RTS. By the end of September 2021, just over 200,000 people were looking for employment in Switzerland according to Switzerland’s standard measure, which is focused on those registered with the official unemployment office, something required to collect unemployment benefits. However, it means some who run out the 2...

Unemployment fell from 2.7% to 2.6% in September 2021 in Switzerland, with a sharp drop among those aged 15 to 24, reported RTS. © Mcherevan | Dreamstime.comBy the end of September 2021, just over 200,000 people were looking for employment in Switzerland according to Switzerland’s standard measure, which is focused on those registered with the official unemployment office, something required to collect unemployment benefits. However, it means some who run out the 2 year unemployment...