Statistics for 2016 show that 25% of Switzerland’s residents have no religion. As recently as 1960 the same figure was less than 1%. The percentage with no faith shows significant regional variations. While only 19% of Italian speakers have no religion, 24% in German-speaking Switzerland and 30% in French-speaking Switzerland don’t. Non-believers in Switzerland Infogram […]
Switzerland ranked best country in 2018 – the good, bad and the ugly
Once again the USA News Best Country ranking placed Switzerland first out of 80 countries in 2018. The overall score is based on nine groups containing a total 65 measures, scored out of 10, which show Switzerland’s underlying strengths and weaknesses. Switzerland makes the top 10 on five of the nine high-level measures. These include: […]
January 2018 warmest ever recorded in Switzerland
The average monthly temperature in January 2018 in Switzerland was the highest recorded since recording began in 1864, according to Swiss Meteo. Across all Swiss weather stations the average was 0.6 degrees Celsius, a bit above the last record of 0.4 degrees in January 2007. Geneva was particularly warm. There the average for the month […]
Only 4.5% of world lives under full democracy – Switzerland suffers from low participation
The Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2017 Democracy Index classifies only 19 countries as having fully functioning democracies. 14 were in Europe. Globally, democracy declined in 2017, according to the report. Only 4.5% of the world’s population now lives in a fully functioning democracy. Overall, the ranking shows a decline in the number of fully functioning democracies […]
Swiss winter holiday traffic – map shows hot spots
The Swiss government has issued winter holiday season traffic predictions. European winter school holidays fall between 27 January and 11 March 2018. Over this period, particularly on Saturdays, which are the weekly change over day, heavy traffic is predicted in the usual hotspots. A number of passes are closed during winter, funneling more traffic into […]
Swiss government warns of cancerous palm oil
Today, the Swiss Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO) warned that the colouring substance Scarlet Red (Sudan IV) had been discovered in palm oil. The banned substance was discovered by FSVO staff in Vaud. The synthetic substance can metabolize into carcinogenic amines after it has been ingested. Amines are used to make some dyes. […]
Swiss cross-border shopping not always worth it, says study
In 2015, Swiss residents made 24 million shopping trips abroad. The average Swiss-based cross-border shopper travelled 69 kilometres to shop in a neighbouring country, 55 kilometres further than they did when shopping in Switzerland, according to a study published by Credit Suisse. Credit Suisse calculated that, on average, a cross-border shopper would need to spend […]
Push to extend shop opening hours to 8pm in Geneva
The Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP) in Geneva wants shopping hours in Geneva to be standardized and extended. In general, French-speaking Switzerland has stricter laws on opening hours that the rest of Switzerland. For example a Migros store in Zurich is open until 9pm every night except Sunday. A similar store in Geneva is only open until […]
Geneva Airport cleans up its emissions but ignores its past
In 2016, the airport says it removed 10,000 tCO2 from the atmosphere, the amount it emitted that year. It has been investing in extracting carbon since 2011. Based on its emissions effort in 2016, it became one of 37 carbon neutral airports, according to airport carbon accreditation. These emissions relate only to the airport and […]
A quarter of Swiss workers stressed and exhausted, according to new research
Around a quarter of Swiss workers are stressed and exhausted, according to new research. A three-year study by the University of Bern and Zurich University of Applied Sciences, which covers the period from 2014 to 2016, estimates that this stress and exhaustion cost Swiss companies between CHF 5 and CHF 5.8 billion a year. The […]
