Tag Archives: Personal finance

Recently published figures show that average (mean) monthly household income in Switzerland in 2017 was CHF 9,917 (US$ 9,963). This is equal to CHF 119,004 (US$ 119,554) a year. Income is made up of salary income (CHF 6,320; 64%), freelance income (CHF 984; 10%), investment income (CHF 494; 5%) and money from the government (CHF 2,119; 21%) – pensions and other welfare and transfers. The largest item of expenditure is taxes and compulsory insurance (CHF 2,933; 30%), although this...

Recently published statistics suggest most Swiss prefer home grown animal products. © Swisshippo | Dreamstime.comThree quarters (75%) of those surveyed said they preferred Swiss eggs and more than half preferred Swiss meat (51%) and dairy products (59%). Reasons for preferring local animal products were to support local farmers (nearly 25%), low food miles (15%) and product quality (15%). 40% considered Swiss agriculture to be trustworthy and 33% thought it was customer centred....

40% of workers currently aged between 50 and 64 would like to continue working beyond retirement age, according to a survey conducted by Deloitte. © Kurhan | Dreamstime.comSwitzerland’s growing demographic imbalance is not only putting pressure on Switzerland’s social security system but also reducing its pool of labour. According to UBS, by 2030, the Swiss labour market will face a shortfall of between 230,000 and 500,000 workers. Labour market participation decreases significantly...

Switzerland’s low unemployment rate is the envy of many EU countries. However, in the third quarter of 2019, Switzerland underperformed the EU. © Suriel Ramirez Zaldivar | Dreamstime.comRecent statistics show Switzerland’s overall rate of unemployment in the third quarter rose from 4.2% (Q3 2018) to 4.6% (Q3 2019) – these figures are based on the International Labour Organisation definition of unemployment. The lower measure typically used in Switzerland includes only those still...

© Swisshippo | Dreamstime.com The amount of money paid by “rich” cantons to “poor” ones will rise by CHF 61 million to CHF 5.3 billion in 2020, according to a recent government press release. The only French-speaking canton paying will be Geneva. All of the rest will see the sums they receive rise compared to 2019. In 2020, Geneva will pay CHF 275 million, down slightly from the CHF 300 million it paid in 2019. In 2020, the canton of Fribourg will receive CHF 387...

The amount of money paid by “rich” cantons to “poor” ones will rise by CHF 61 million to CHF 5.3 billion in 2020, according to a recent government press release. © Swisshippo | Dreamstime.com The only French-speaking canton paying will be Geneva. All of the rest will see the sums they receive rise compared to 2019. In 2020, Geneva will pay CHF 275 million, down slightly from the CHF 300 million it paid in 2019. In 2020, the canton of Fribourg will receive CHF 387 million (CHF 381...

Last week, the government announced that it had shaved CHF 100 million off the cost of drug purchases from 1 January 2020. © Vitaly Iskakov | Dreamstime.com This week numbers obtained by RTS from Curafutura, a health insurance association, show drug spending rose CHF 420 million from CHF 6.9 billion to CHF 7 billion between October 2018 and September 2019 and the same period 12 month a year before. Over the last five years spending on drugs has risen 26%. Savings are not keeping up...

Thomas Jordan, chairman of the Swiss National Bank (SNB), told the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper recently that central bank interest rates might need to go further into negative territory. Thomas Jordan, Chairman of the Swiss National Bank Responding to growing criticism of negative central bank interest rates, Jordan said negative interest rates could continue and a further reduction is possible. The SNB did not introduce negative interest rates to harm people, said the SNB chairman....

© Tero Vesalainen Dreamstime.com Switzerland’s Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) recently announced it had reduced the price Swiss healthcare providers and patients will pay for 257 drugs by 16.3%. These lower prices, which take affect on 1 December 2019, are expected to save CHF 100 million annually. The FOPH looked at the prices of 478 drugs and achieved price reductions on 257 (54%) of them. The government has promised to cut healthcare costs via a range of...

The parliamentary environmental commission has endorsed a plan to increase the taxes on fuel in Switzerland. © Tuayai | Dreamstime.comFollowing support for a fuel tax increase by the Council of States, Switzerland’s upper house, the commission said it supports a rise of 10 cents a litre until 2024 and 12 cents a litre from 2025. These increases are lower than those included in some other proposals. However, the commission decided these increases were appropriate in the context of all...