There are many theories on why the prices of certain goods and services are so high in Switzerland. A well-known economic phenomenon can be added to them. Theories that help to explain Switzerland’s high prices include, import restrictions and tariffs on products in protected industries like agriculture, high Swiss operating costs, anticompetitive deals struck by […]
Drugs in Switzerland more expensive than ever compared to Europe
A recent study by Interpharma and Santésuisse shows how rapidly drug prices have risen in Switzerland over the 10 years to 2020. Between 2010 and 2020, medicine prices have risen by nearly 37% in Switzerland. In addition, the cost of basic health insurance has risen at 3 times the rate of GDP over the same […]
Switzerland: great quality of life at considerable cost
A recent survey of expats presents Switzerland as a double edged sword. The survey, which covers 59 nations, ranks Switzerland near the top on quality of life but near the bottom on cost. In the ranking by InterNations, Switzerland is listed 30 out of 59 countries overall for its attractiveness to expats. However, its score […]
Switzerland number one for expat pay and stability
In 2019, Switzerland came top overall in a ranking of destinations for expatriates to live and work, moving up from eighth last year. Singapore, which had held the top spot for four years in the HSBC’s list of the best countries for expatriates, dropped to second place. Switzerland scored highly on salaries (1st), stability (1st), […]
Zurich and Geneva in top 10 most expensive cities
According to the Worldwide Cost of Living 2018 survey published by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), Singapore is the most expensive city in the world. Zurich and Geneva however are hot on its tail ranking 2rd and 6th respectively. Zurich is the most expensive in Europe in second position alongside Paris. The survey compares more than 400 individual […]
How much more you need to earn in Switzerland to breakeven
Recently published international price comparison numbers show just how expensive life is in Switzerland. The price of a standard basket of items, including food, clothing, accommodation, healthcare, transport, education and other regular expenses, was far higher in Switzerland than in the rest of Europe. In 2016, life in Switzerland was 68% more expensive than the […]
A fifth of Swiss can’t cope with an unexpected expense of 2,500 francs
In 2015, 21.7% of Switzerland’s population was unable to cover an unexpected expense of CHF 2,500 within a month, says a report from the Swiss Federal Statistics Office. Single parent families were the least able to cope with 46.1% of them falling into this camp. Single parent families were followed by single people under 65 (27.1%) […]
Switzerland’s costliest cantons for tax, housing, health, commuting, and childcare
This week the bank Credit Suisse published its cantonal cost of living report. Its ranking considers a typical household’s biggest expenses: tax, housing, commuting, basic health insurance and childcare. It takes income and deducts all of these costs to arrive at a measure of disposable income. In a simplified world it might be expected that […]
