According to the Swiss government, the nation has 100,000 cubic metres of nuclear waste, enough to fill the main hall of Zurich’s train station, said Roman Mayer of the Federal Energy Office in an interview with RTS. Most of this waste came from nuclear power stations. Smaller quantities were produced by medicine, industry and research. The […]
Swiss Fact: Switzerland’s longest glacier has shrunk 1.3 kilometres
The longest, largest glacier in Europe is the Aletsch, in Switzerland’s canton Valais. The glacier is currently about 23 km. long and blankets about 81.7 sq. km. It’s estimated maximum depth is nearly 1 km. For now. Because, alas, like most of the planet’s glaciers, the Aletsch, which is part of a UNESCO World Heritage […]
Swiss fact: some Swiss women had to wait until 1991 to vote
Women in the Swiss canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden had to wait until 1991 to vote in cantonal elections. Not all Swiss cantons were this slow. In Switzerland, voting takes place at three layers of government: commune (Gemeinde), canton (Kanton) and federal. Canton is arguably the most important – Switzerland’s 26 cantons are like states. The […]
Swiss fact: one in seven Swiss drink no alcohol
A recent report1 shows that around 1 in 7 Swiss drink no alcohol. Of the 13.8% who avoid alcohol completely, 6.5% have avoided it all their lives, while a further 7.3% are former drinkers who haven’t consumed alcohol over the last 12 months. The number of Swiss non-drinkers has climbed since 2011 when only 11.7% […]
Swiss analysis: Switzerland’s gender pay gap – what the detail reveals
In 2014, the average gross annual salary for a full-time male worker in Switzerland was CHF 81,000, CHF 10,000 or 12.5% higher than that of an average woman. But what does this high level difference mean? Inspired by the Swedish statistician Hans Rosling, who passed away recently, we decided to dig deeper to see what […]
Swiss fact: Swiss eat half as much meat as Americans
In 2015, an average American consumed 95.4 kg of beef, mutton, pork and poultry. An average resident of Switzerland ate 47.1 kg, slightly less than half the amount. The biggest difference was the amount of poultry consumed. An average American ate 47.6 kg compared to 10.5 kg in Switzerland. There was also a big difference […]
Swiss fact: around 1.8 million kilograms of fish are caught in Switzerland every year
In 2014, 1.78 million kilograms of fish were caught in the landlocked nation. Of this total, around 280,000 kilograms were caught by recreational anglers. The remaining 1.5 million kilograms were caught by the fishing industry. 84% of the total came from the six lakes of Lake Geneva (27%), Lake Neuchâtel (20%), Lake Zurich (15%), Lake Constance […]
Swiss fact: more than 40% of the population is not religious in some Swiss cantons
Recent figures show that nearly one in four Swiss follows no religion. In 2014, 1.9 million people in Switzerland stated that they belonged to no religious group. In some cantons the percentage in this category was above 40%. Religion has had a hand in shaping Switzerland. For example, in the 16th century, the canton of […]
Swiss fact: Switzerland is one of the world’s top 5 coffee exporters
According to UN trade statistics, the small Alpine nation exported US$ 2.4 billion1 of coffee in 2013. This figure is far higher than its cheese (US$ 615 million2) or chocolate (US$ 822 million3) exports, two far more famous Swiss exports. In 2013, Swiss coffee exports ranked 4th behind Brazil ($5.3b), Germany ($3.4b) and Vietnam ($2.9b). Ethiopia, […]
Swiss fact: 90 percent of Swiss electricity came from hydro in 1970. Now it’s only 60.
According to Swiss statistics1, 90% of the nation’s electricity was generated hydraulically in 1970. By 2015, this percentage had fallen to 60. What happened? Between these dates hydroelectric output increased by 26%, from around 31,000 GWh to nearly 40,000 GWh. At the same time demand shot up faster requiring an 89% increase in output, an […]
