Close to half of renters is Switzerland could face significant increases in rent, estimates Zürich Kantonalbank (ZKB), with rents potentially rising as much as 15% over the next five years, reported the newspaper Blick. The reference mortgage rate used to set rents, which was has been 1.25% since March 2020 could rise as high as […]
Switzerland’s 2023 motorway vignette unveiled
Every year Switzerland’s motorway vignette is a different colour. Next year it’s yellow. Valid from 1 December 2022 until 31 January 2024, the new stickers must be displayed by anyone using Switzerland’s motorway network. The price remains the same. The motorway stickers have cost CHF 40 for 28 years. Introduced after a referendum in 1985, […]
Inter-cantonal tax transfers to rise 5 percent in 2023
On 16 November 2022, Switzerland’s federal government announced the sums that will be transferred between the nation’s statelets or cantons in 2023, a mechanism aimed at ensuring wealthy cantons support those with weaker economies. In 2023, CHF 5.6 billion will be transferred, a sum CHF 290 million greater than in 2022 (+5%). The total sum […]
Confidential drug deals push up cost of Swiss healthcare, claims association
Around CHF 8 billion is spent annually on medicines prescribed for specific diseases in Switzerland. 20 drugs account for about a fifth of this cost, many of them sold at prices negotiated in secret. These confidential drug price negotiations are one of the reasons the cost of Swiss healthcare is rising so fast, claims Curafutura, […]
Swiss hotels soon allowed to undercut platforms on price
Many agencies and online platforms get hotels to sign contracts that stop them offering prices lower than those offered by the agency or platform. From 1 December 2022, it will no longer possible to legally enforce these arrangements as they will be deemed an unfair trading practice. On 16 November 2022, the Federal Council brought […]
Vote on pension reform most divisive in Swiss history
Switzerland’s recent vote on state pension reform on 25 September 2022, divided men and women, reported RTS. The vote was split into two parts. The first asked whether the state pension age for women should rise from 64 to 65 to bring it into line with the pension age for men. The second part asked […]
Swiss construction workers protest over hours and pay
After construction workers went out on strike for two days in French-speaking Switzerland, construction workers protested in Zurich over hours and pay on 11 November 2022, reported RTS. With inflation in Switzerland running at 3%, construction workers are demanding higher pay. However, the construction industry has responded with an offer of better pay tied to […]
Bank predicts home rent rises in Switzerland
According to the bank Raiffeisen, a future rental housing crisis is likely in Switzerland as the home vacancy rate moves below 1% in 2024, reported 20 Minutes. The combined forces of higher construction costs and higher interest rates have reduced the number of homes being built, said the bank. This combined with the continued growth […]
Huge Covid test fraud potentially uncovered in Switzerland
While checking statements from health insurers a number of people have noticed Covid tests that were never administered. One individual in St. Gallen discovered 30 Covid tests billed by a doctor in Vaud on their statement, reported RTS. A spokesperson for Santésuisse, a health insurance association, said the organisation estimates that 1% of Covid tests […]
Swiss inflation stable in October
Switzerland’s consumer price index (CPI) remained stable in October 2022 compared with the previous month, reported Switzerland’s Federal Statistical Office (FSO) this week. This left year-on-year inflation at the end of October 2022 at 3%, the same level that it was at the end of September 2022. The stability of the index compared with the […]
