The pandemic had a significant impact on Swiss real estate prices in 2020, according to industry experts. Contrary to initial fears that property prices would fall, prices have risen over the period. Over the year, the offer prices of stand alone houses rose by 5.6% while apartment prices jumped by 5.5% across Switzerland as a […]
Pandemic dents financial optimism for 2021 in Switzerland
18% of Swiss adults are convinced their financial situation will worsen in 2021, according to a survey. This percentage is markedly higher than at the end of 2019 when the same figure was 13%. The rise in pessimism is largely linked to job insecurity. 68% are concerned they will face full or partial unemployment, while […]
Swiss petrol and diesel tax to rise on 1 January 2021
On 1 January 2021, Swiss pump prices are set to rise by 3.7 cents per litre. From 1 January 2021, the total taxes on a litre of petrol and diesel in Switzerland will be 77 and 80 cents respectively. At a price of CHF 1.50 litre, taxes will make up over half the price of […]
Large government budget deficit in 2021 for Switzerland
On 16 December 2020, Switzerland’s Council of States, the nation’s upper house, accepted a 2021 budget deeply in the red following its acceptance last week by the National Council. In 2021, Switzerland’s federal government plans to collect CHF 75.8 billion while spending CHF 81.9 billion, plunging the budget CHF 6.1 billion into the red. The […]
Switzerland’s population happy with the health system, according to survey
Switzerland’s health system is rated highly by the public, according to the latest survey conducted in eleven countries by the Commonwealth Fund Foundation. Every 3 years, the Foundation conducts a survey of the general population in eleven countries to investigate experiences of the health system. 88% of the 2,284 people surveyed across all of Switzerland […]
Swiss government promises one billion francs for Covid hit businesses
This week, Switzerland’s federal government decided to increase aid money to Covid hit businesses to CHF 1 billion. Before this announcement, Bern had already committed to providing CHF 400 million to struggling businesses. Funding for the first CHF 400 million is split 50-50 between cantonal and federal tax payers. The additional CHF 600 million will […]
Unemployment rises in third quarter of 2020 in Switzerland
Between the 3rd quarter 2019 and the 3rd quarter 2020, the number of people employed in Switzerland fell by 0.4% (–21 000). In addition, weekly hours worked per employee decreased by 2.7%. During the same period, the unemployment rate in Switzerland as defined by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) increased from 4.6% to 5.3%. At […]
The Swiss tax money transfers in 2021
Swiss cantons have very different tax bases, tax rates and costs. To even things up rich cantons are required to help those with less money via a system set up in 2008 known as the péréquation financière nationale (French) or Nationaler Finanzausgleich (German). This week, the government decided on next year’s payments. The system relies on […]
Public worker absenteeism costs Geneva 285 million francs a year
Public worker absenteeism in Geneva costs at least CHF 285 million, according to Heidi.news, which calculated the sum based on information contained in an internal document. According to the news service the cost of absenteeism, which continues to rise, is equivalent to 11% of the 2.54 billion spent public sector workers’ salaries in 2019 and […]
New Swiss initiative to further restrict construction
Land use is strictly governed in Switzerland. However, a new initiative, which aims to increase construction restrictions further, recently gathered enough signatures to qualify for a a popular vote. The initiative, dubbed the countryside initiative, was officially registered after gathering 104,487 valid signatures, more than the 100,000 that must be collected within 100 days to […]
