On 26 January 2023, data on dual nationality in Switzerland were published by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO). Between 2010 and 2021 the number of Swiss citizens over 15 years old with another nationality rose from 13.8% to 19.5%, a rise of 5.7 percentage points. The number of Swiss citizens with another nationality has risen […]
Professional training boosts pay by 46% in Switzerland
Switzerland offers workers the possibility of obtaining professional qualifications while working. Around 27,500 people graduate from these federally recognised higher vocational education programmes every year. Six years after graduating from these programmes the median income for a full-time job is about CHF 7,800 per month, compared with the CHF 5,300 received five years before obtaining […]
Firearms at home linked to Switzerland’s exceptionally high suicide rate
The male suicide rate using firearms is higher in Switzerland than the rest of Europe. According to a recently published report the higher rate could be linked to military weapons in Swiss homes, reported RTS. The report published by a researcher at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands looks at the link between firearm […]
Electricity prices could rise more in 2024, suggests head of Swiss regulator
At a meeting in Bern on 19 January 2023, Werner Luginbühl, the head of Elcom, Switzerland’s electricity regulator, called on the sector to be careful to manage consumer expectations, reported RTS. According to Luginbühl, many consumers are confused by Switzerland’s rising electricity prices. Some think the electricity consumed in Switzerland comes from hydro and nuclear […]
Switzerland generates more plastic waste than neighbours
On average each resident of Switzerland leaves 95 kg of plastic waste behind them in a year, according to a report by Oceancare. This figure places Switzerland ahead Germany, Austria, France and Italy, reported RTS. Oceancare used 2010 statistics from Switzerland’s Federal Office for the Environment to compile the data. Ewoud Lauwerier, one of the […]
Public funding of WEF security angers critics
The World Economic Forum (WEF), an exclusive gathering of wealthy folks dropping in on private jets is viewed by many as out of touch with the key challenges currently faced by the global population. Swiss critics of the event are angered that an event closed to the public is provided with publicly funded security, reported […]
Referendum against Swiss climate change programme to test environment minister
This week, the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP) announced it had collected enough signatures to launch a referendum to reject the government’s plan for reducing carbon emissions. The initiative puts Albert Rösti, Switzerland’s new environment minister, in a difficult position as a member of the party behind the future vote. On 9 January 2023, the party […]
Cantons caught short by Swiss National Bank losses
On 9 January 2023, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) announced it had made a loss of CHF 132 billion over the course of 2022. Despite the near certainty of the losses and the resulting absence of SNB payments to cantons, a number of cantons included the extra revenue in their budgets, reported RTS. The SNB […]
Swiss unemployment lowest in 20 years
On 9 January 2023, Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) published the latest figures for the Swiss labor market in 2022 showing unemployment at its lowest rate for 20 years. 2022 saw the development of a labour market increasingly characterised by a shortage of workers and an unemployment rate of 2.1%, said SECO. The […]
Switzerland’s worker shortage putting pressure on unemployed to change career
By international standards, unemployment payments are generous in Switzerland – typically 70% of salary. But they come with strict requirements for recipients to show they are engaging in actions deemed necessary to find work. With record numbers of unfilled jobs, pressure is now being put on some to change career, reported RTS. According to one […]
