On 6 May 2021, SWISS announced a plan to cut jobs and the size of its fleet. Due to the continuing global coronavirus pandemic and structural changes in the market, the company expects a 20% structural decline in demand. In response, the airline plans to cut the fleet it had in 2019 by 15% and […]
Real Swiss salaries up most in 5 years
On 30 April 2021, Switzerland’s Federal Statistical Office released salary data for 2020 which showed a 1.5% rise in real salaries compared to 2019. In 2020, a 0.8% rise in nominal salaries was boosted by inflation of -0.7% bringing the total increase in the real average Swiss salary to 1.5%. The last time salaries rose […]
Switzerland books a federal deficit of 14 billion francs in 2020
On 14 April 2021, Switzerland’s federal government announced it had spent CHF 14.2 billion more that it had collected in revenue in 2020. The loss represents the federal government’s consolidated excess expenditure for the year and is linked to the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the statement. An additional CHF 16.8 billion was […]
Minimum wage hurting young people in Swiss canton
Around three years ago, the Swiss canton of Jura introduced a minimum wage of CHF 20 an hour (US$ 21.65). Now there is political pressure relook at the move, according to RTS. A group of cantonal parliamentarians from the PDC (CVP) is pushing for a review of the situation in response to pressure from some […]
IMF praises Switzerland’s economic response to the pandemic
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Switzerland has economically navigated the Covid-19 pandemic well so far. In 2020, the Swiss economy shrank by 2.9%, far less than many other advanced European economies. France (-8.2%), Germany (-4.9%), Italy (-8.9%) and the UK (-9.9%) all performed far worse. According to the IMF, the impact of the […]
Swiss bankruptcies fell by 7% in 2020
In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic hit the Swiss economy. GDP fell by 2.9% compared to 2019. However, despite the fall in economic output the number of bankruptcies fell by 6.7% compared to 2019. In addition to a fall in the number of bankruptcies, the sum lost from closed bankruptcies fell 27%, after adjusting for the […]
Inflation accelerates in Switzerland in March
During 2020, average annual inflation was –0.7%, according to Switzerland’s Federal Statistical Office (FSO). Since the beginning of 2021 it has begun to rise. In January 2021 inflation was 0.1%. In February it rose to 0.2% and it March it was 0.3%. Since the end of 2020, Swiss prices have risen by nearly 0.6% (0.56%). […]
The invisible lock invented in Switzerland
Researchers in Switzerland have developed an invisible lock made of a printed transparent electronic material. The transparent touch sensitive material can be placed anywhere, which means, unlike a traditional keypad, making it very difficult for an intruder to even know where to press. The team at Switzerland’s EMPA research centre is focused on developing thin […]
18% of Swiss hotel and restaurant businesses already closed down
A recently published survey run by Gastrosuisse, a hotel and restaurant industry association, suggests that 18.4% of businesses in the sector have already closed down due to the business disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. 18.4% of the businesses polled reported that they had already closed with no plans to reopen. Without financial aid 23% […]
Farming lobby hurting Swiss chocolate sector, says industry association
Swiss chocolate sales went into steep decline in 2020, according to ChocoSuisse, Switzerland’s chocolate industry association. The amount of chocolate produced in Switzerland in 2020 was 10% lower than in 2019 and sales revenue was down by 14.5%, a sharp drop. In 2020, Swiss chocolatiers produced around 180,000 tons, 20,000 tons less than the year […]
