For 40 years, The Economist has indulged in what it refers to as “burgernomics”: a worldwide comparison of the price of a Big Mac. The McDonald’s Big Mac is remarkably consistent wherever you eat it, so you might expect its price to be consistent too. But it is not—and, according to the publisher, that reveals […]
America imposes new 12.5% tariff on Swiss goods
America has imposed new tariffs of 10% or 12.5% on selected imports from about 60 trading partners, including Switzerland. The White House says the countries concerned have failed to do enough to combat forced labour. The measures, announced on Thursday, took effect overnight. The European Union, Japan and Taiwan are also named in the American […]
A third of Swiss Asian supermarket vegetables fail pesticide tests
Laboratory tests in the Swiss canton of Solothurn found excessive pesticide residues in one-third of vegetable samples taken from Asian grocery stores last year, prompting a criminal complaint against an importer. Asian supermarket vegetables tested by Solothurn’s food safety inspectors repeatedly failed compliance checks, according to the canton’s 2025 annual report. Officials analysed 38 vegetable […]
Swiss firms set to win more F-35 work than expected
Switzerland’s purchase of F-35 fighter jets is expected to generate more business for Swiss companies than originally required, reported RTS. Under the procurement deal, the American manufacturer has agreed to place work with Swiss firms as partial compensation for the purchase. According to figures released by Armasuisse on Tuesday, these commitments now exceed the target […]
Railway near-miss exposes Switzerland’s language challenge
Switzerland is often held up as a model of multilingualism. In August 2025, however, its linguistic diversity nearly led to a railway collision. The incident received widespread attention only after the Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board (SESE) published its report in June 2026. Two Swiss Rail trains came close to colliding at Neuchâtel-Vauseyon after a […]
Swiss say no to a 10m population cap
Switzerland’s voters have rejected the right-wing Swiss People’s Party’s (UDC/SVP) latest attempt to curb immigration, dealing a blow to a campaign that sought to cap the country’s population at 10m by 2050. In a referendum held on Sunday, 54.8% of voters opposed the initiative, while a majority of cantons also rejected it (13 cantons against; […]
New EU rules on offshore migrant-return centres will apply to Switzerland
Switzerland will be required to adopt legislation allowing the use of migrant-return centres outside Europe, following a new agreement reached by the European Union. Despite being outside the EU, as a member of the Schengen area, Switzerland must incorporate the new rules into domestic law. The agreement, struck in Brussels on Monday evening, forms part […]
No more military exemption for young French-Swiss men
Franco-Swiss dual nationals may no longer be able to avoid Swiss military service under a bilateral agreement between Switzerland and France, decided a parliamentary majority. On Thursday the National Council approved, by 129 votes to 61, a motion already backed by the Council of States. The proposal, put forward by Mauro Poggia, a politician from […]
Swiss petition targets Starlink expansion in the Alps
Nearly 15,000 people have signed a petition urging Switzerland’s federal government to halt plans for a major SpaceX Starlink ground station in the canton of Valais. Campaigners say the project would hand excessive influence over Swiss communications infrastructure to Elon Musk and expose the country to geopolitical risk. On May 21st a coalition led by […]
Luzern overtakes Zug as Switzerland’s lowest-tax canton
For decades Zug has been synonymous with low corporate taxes. But according to a new analysis by PwC, Luzern has now edged ahead. The consulting firm calculates Luzern’s maximum effective corporate-tax rate at 11.66% in 2026, marginally below Zug’s 11.71%. At the other end of the scale, companies in Bern and Zurich face effective rates […]
