On 11 February 2022, Switzerland’s Federal Statistical Office (FSO) released inflation figures for January 2022. Over the month, prices rose by 0.2%, delivering an annual price rise of 1.6%.
Compared to many other nations, 1.6% annual inflation is low. The latest annual figure to the end of January 2022 in the US is 7.5%, according to Financial Times. This is the highest US inflation has been in 40 years. The last time US inflation was this high was in 1982. Over the month of January 2022, US inflation was 0.6%, three times the monthly rate recorded in Switzerland.
January inflation in Switzerland was largely driven by rising gas prices, higher hotel prices and higher second hand car prices, said the FSO. On the other side, car rental prices fell and January sales brought price falls for clothing and footwear.
While Switzerland’s recent 1.6% annual rate of inflation is comparatively low by international standards, it is fairly high for Switzerland. The last time annual inflation exceeded this level was in 2008 when it went as high as 2.9%, and 2000 before that when it hit 1.9%.
In addition, since 2008, Switzerland has experienced regular periods of negative inflation (deflation), the highest occurring in 2015 (-1.4%). Swiss inflation data since 1924 can be viewed here.
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FSO press release (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
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David says
Funny choice of image for this article. Well played.