In Switzerland, the official state pension age is 65 for men and 64 for women. Government plans to make the retirement age 65 for both men and women have met with resistance from groups fighting against gender discrimination in Switzerland. The change would not affect women about to retire, and those born between 1960 and […]
Building construction costs rise sharply in Switzerland
As inflation rises around the world, Switzerland feels the heat too. This week the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) published data on construction, which show an unusually large jump in costs. The costs of construction leapt 2.7% between April and October 2021, according to the data, leaving prices 4.1% higher than a year earlier. The construction […]
Swiss government defends plan to remove stamp duty ahead of vote
The Federal Council has decided to remove the 1% investment stamp duty charged on capital invested in Swiss companies. A majority of parliament are also in favour of the decision. However, some politicians are against the change and have launched a referendum against it. This week the government defended its plan. Switzerland’s relatively low corporate […]
Switzerland set to tax e-cigarettes
On 17 December 2021, Switzerland’s Federal Council put forward a plan to tax the liquids used for e-cigarettes, reported RTS. The Federal Council is proposing a tax similar to the tax on tobacco but at a lower rate in line with e-cigarettes’ lower toxicity. The government does not want to discourage tobacco smokers from transitioning […]
Switzerland most expensive in EU comparison but third on average income (GDP)
Switzerland might not lead Europe on average income (GDP), but it wins on cost, according to recent Eurostat data. The nations leading on per capita GDP in 2020 were Luxembourg and Ireland. Average GDP per resident was 2.63 times the EU average in Luxembourg and 2.09 times in Ireland. Switzerland, came in third with GDP […]
Basel City makes roof solar panels compulsory
Last week, the parliament of the cantonal government of Basel-City voted in favour of banning the use of heating oil and making roof solar panels compulsory by 2035. The legal details have not yet been worked out, so it remains unclear what the new rules will look like at this stage. Currently, new buildings in […]
Covid: Swiss government now recommends boosters after 4 months as Omicron spreads
On 21 December 2021, Switzerland’s Federal Department of Public Health (FOPH) and Federal Vaccination Commission (EKIF) announced that they had adjusted their recommendation for administering booster shots of mRNA vaccines from a minimum of 6 months after the last shot to a minimum of 4 months. The recommendation applies to everyone aged 16 or over, […]
Covid: rising patient numbers add to pressure on Swiss hospitals this week
This week, 57,836 new cases of Covid-19 were reported in Switzerland, down 3% from the 59,503 reported the week before. However, despite the new case rate stabilising, hospitalisations and deaths are elevated and have the government concerned. On 17 December 2021, the Federal Council described the epidemiological situation as extremely worrying. The number of hospital admissions continues […]
Covid: Swiss government tightens restrictions from Monday
On 17 December 2021, Switzerland’s federal government announced new stricter Covid measures from Monday 20 December 2021. From Monday, only people who have been vaccinated or have recovered from Covid will be able to enter restaurants, cultural, sporting and leisure venues and attend indoor events. Restricting access to these two groups has been dubbed the […]
Upper house rejects automatic citizenship for those born in Switzerland
This week, a proposal put forward by Lisa Mazzone, a federal parliamentarian from Geneva, to grant automatic citizenship to those born in Switzerland was rejected by 29 to 13 votes in the Council of States, Switzerland’s upper house, reported 20 Minutes. Unrestricted jus soli, or birthright citizenship, is increasingly rare beyond the nations of North […]
