In 2016, before the effects of taxes and welfare, the highest earning 20% of Swiss households made on average 40.8 times what an average household in the bottom 20 percent made, an inequality measure known as the S80/S20. However, after taxes and welfare, including low income support, health insurance subsidies, pensions and disability benefits, the […]
Over 40% of 14 and 15 year old smokers in Switzerland buy their own cigarettes
A recently published study shows that 41.4% of 14 and 15 year old smokers in Switzerland have already bought their own cigarettes from a shop, supermarket, kiosque, bar, restaurant or vending machine. The rate was higher in French- and Italian-speaking Switzerland (45.0%) than in German-speaking Switzerland (39.4%), and higher for boys (45.2%) than for girls […]
Steep drop in thefts in Switzerland
Comparing 2018 to 2012, thefts in Switzerland fell by nearly half, according to the Federal Statistical Office. In 2012, there were a record 219,000 thefts recorded in Switzerland. By 2018, the figure had fallen to 112,000, a drop of 49%. Over the same period, all categories of theft with the exception of fraud were down. […]
Up to 500 parking spaces to close at Geneva Airport
One of Geneva Airport’s car parks will temporarily close up to half its parking spaces. The park P26, which is under Halle 7 of the Palexpo exhibition centre, is undergoing renovation work which starts in April 2019 and is expected to last until June 2020, according a press release. The car park is getting its […]
Snow forecast in Switzerland on Thursday
It might feel like spring, however snow is forecast to fall as low as 500 metres in parts of Switzerland this Thursday, according to Swiss Meteo. The metrological service forecasts snow as low as between 600 and 800 metres in French-speaking Switzerland and as low as low as 500 and 800 metres in German-speaking Switzerland. […]
Million franc salaries cause friction in Bern
Switzerland’s government recently voted for a ceiling on the salaries of those managing public companies such as Swisscom, Swiss Post, Skyguide and Swiss Rail. In response, the board of Swiss Rail wrote to the Federal Council requesting it to soften its position. From 2020, the company wants to pay its nine senior managers CHF 5.89 […]
Swiss Rail shares bumper profits with passengers
In 2018, Swiss Rail made a profit of CHF 568 million, 42.5% more than in 2017. Part of the rise was due to higher than average spending on maintenance in 2017. It is worth noting that Swiss Rail receives a large sum from taxpayers every year. In 2018, the company received CHF 3.5 billion of […]
Facebook rejects most information requests from Swiss authorities
Over the first three months of 2018 Swiss authorities made 80 requests for Facebook user data, however two thirds of them were ignored, according to the newspaper SonntagsBlick as reported in 20 Minutes. When the requests were urgent the response rate rose to two thirds of requests. Reto Nause, who is responsible for security in […]
Swiss chocolate consumption slides
In 2018, Switzerland’s population consumed around 87,000 tonnes of chocolate. However, average chocolate consumption dropped from 10.5 kg per person in 2017 to 10.3 kg in 2018, a decline of roughly 2%. This decline reflects last year’s longer hotter summer, according to the industry association Chocosuisse. The fall in consumption of Swiss chocolate in Switzerland […]
Swiss parliamentarians paid to lobby. But who is paying who?
A recently published study by the organisation Transparency International Switzerland shows the scale of lobbying in Swiss politics. Based on existing records, there are 2,000 relevant links between parliamentarians and outside interests with close to 1,700 organisations represented in parliament. An average member of Switzerland’s parliament has between seven and nine outside mandates. While the […]
