Tag Archives: Personal finance

© Teo Lay Peng | Dreamstime.com Strolling through the pasta aisle of a Swiss supermarket, someone new to Switzerland might conclude that the locals prefer egg pasta over the eggless variety. And, while that might to some extent be true, there is another reason. Every year, Swiss egg producers produce too many eggs and turn to the government for help. The Federal Office of Agriculture (OFAG) does three things. Firstly,...

Strolling through the pasta aisle of a Swiss supermarket, someone new to Switzerland might conclude that the locals prefer egg pasta over the eggless variety. And, while that might to some extent be true, there is another reason. © Teo Lay Peng | Dreamstime.com Every year, Swiss egg producers produce too many eggs and turn to the government for help. The Federal Office of Agriculture (OFAG) does three things. Firstly, it funds retail egg discounts and runs a “broken egg” programme, which...

Recently published figures show a 7% decline in the percentage of men in Switzerland’s workforce between 1991 and 2018. © Volker Husberg _ Dreamstime.com The workforce figures, which include the unemployed, show a fall in male workforce participation from 81% to 74%, a 7% decline over 27 years. At the same time, the percentage of women working rose 6% from 57% to 63% between 1991 and 2018. Workforce participation for both genders combined declined 0.5% from 1991 to 2018. The largest drop for...

© Sergey Novikov | Dreamstime.com Recently published data show that close to 60% of households in Switzerland rented their home at an average cost of CHF 1,329 per month in 2017. Average monthly rents ranged from CHF 752 for a studio up to CHF 2,323 for 6 rooms or more. The average household size in Switzerland was 2.23 people in 2017. 35% lived alone and a further 33% were two people. Only 19% were comprised of four...

Recently published data show that close to 60% of households in Switzerland rented their home at an average cost of CHF 1,329 per month in 2017. © Sergey Novikov | Dreamstime.com Average monthly rents ranged from CHF 752 for a studio up to CHF 2,323 for 6 rooms or more. The average household size in Switzerland was 2.23 people in 2017. 35% lived alone and a further 33% were two people. Only 19% were comprised of four people or more. The highest average monthly rent was in the canton of Zug...

© Gunnar3000 | Dreamstime.com There are various ways to measure unemployment. Switzerland’s standard measure looks at the number of people registered with unemployment offices across the country. By this measure Switzerland’s unemployment recently reached a 10 year low of 2.6%. Today, another unemployment measure was published. It shows a 0.1% increase in unemployment over the fourth quarter of 2018 to 4.6% or 227,000...

There are various ways to measure unemployment. Switzerland’s standard measure looks at the number of people registered with unemployment offices across the country. By this measure Switzerland’s unemployment recently reached a 10 year low of 2.6%. © Gunnar3000 | Dreamstime.com Today, another unemployment measure was published. It shows a 0.1% increase in unemployment over the fourth quarter of 2018 to 4.6% or 227,000 people. This measure, defined by the International Labour Organisation...

© Makasanaphoto | Dreamstime.com In October 2018, government number crunchers revised Switzerland’s federal forecast budget surplus up from CHF 0.3 billion to CHF 2.5 billion. Today, Bern announced that provisional calculations for 2018 now show a surplus of CHF 2.9 billion, CHF 0.4 billion more than last year’s revised figure. The increase was driven by strict spending discipline and higher than expected receipts,...

In October 2018, government number crunchers revised Switzerland’s federal forecast budget surplus up from CHF 0.3 billion to CHF 2.5 billion. © Makasanaphoto | Dreamstime.com Today, Bern announced that provisional calculations for 2018 now show a surplus of CHF 2.9 billion, CHF 0.4 billion more than last year’s revised figure. The increase was driven by strict spending discipline and higher than expected receipts, according to the press release. In 2017, Switzerland managed a surplus of CHF...

A recent survey by the Federal Statistical Office shows the overall median pay gap in Switzerland’s private sector shrunk to 12% in 2016, down from 12.5% in 2014 and 15.6% in 2010. © Charlieaja | Dreamstime.com In 2016, median pay for women was CHF 6,011 francs a month and median pay for men was CHF 6,830. The gap rose to 18.54% for the highest management positions. Here median pay for men was CHF 10,878 and CHF 8,861 for women. For those with no managerial responsibility the gap was only...