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THE WEEK IN SWITZERLAND

Six big news stories from Switzerland you need to know about this week

Government to increase pensions and other benefits in 2025, and how foreign population has grown in Switzerland, are among the Swiss news The Local reported this week. You can catch up on everything in this weekly roundup.

Published: 30 August 2024 16:20 CEST
Six big news stories from Switzerland you need to know about this week
Visiting Zermatt for just one day may require a 12-franc entry fee. Photo: Pixabay

Government to pay higher pensions and other benefits in 2025

Whether you are a retiree or still working, but depend on various allowances, more money will be coming to you from the Swiss government next year.

From January 1st, 2025, first-pillar state pension (AHV / AVS), as well as disability pension, will increase by 2.9 percent.

Family allowances, along with other supplementary benefits, will also go up in 2025, as will the earned income deductibles (see more about this below).

READ ALSO: How your Swiss pension and benefits payments will rise next year? 

Switzerland’s population, including foreign nationals, has grown

Switzerland’s permanent population hit 8,962,300 people in 2023 — 1.7 percent more than in 2022. 

This increase is the most significant recorded since the beginning of the 1960s.

The number of foreign residents has also gone up: at 2,417.288 people at the end of 2023, foreigners made up 27 percent of Switzerland’s total population.

The canton of Zurich is home to the largest number of international residents: 459,706.
Next are Vaud (284,460), Geneva (218,684), Aargau (198,599), and Bern (190, 384). 

READ ALSO: What new figures tell us about Switzerland’s foreign population in 2024 

Lower mortgage rates make properties more affordable

Though prices of real estate in Switzerland continue to climb, lower mortgage rates mean that owning a house or an apartment may be more feasible for some people.

For instance, at 1.90 percent, the average annual interest rate for 10-year fixed-rate mortgages is now the lowest it has been since March 2022. 

And the cost of shorter-term mortgages is also lower than before: the average annual interest rate is currently about 1.81 percent for two-year fixed-rate mortgages (FRMs) and 1.79 percent for five-year FRMs.

READ ALSO: Is autumn 2024 the right time to buy a property in Switzerland? 

Basel will be alive with the sounds of music in May 2025

Basel will host the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest after being chosen ahead of Geneva by the European Broadcasting Union.

It is Switzerland’s turn to host Europe’s most important song competition after a Swiss singer, Nemo, won this year’s Eurovision held in Malmö, Sweden.

Originally, cities of Zurich and Bern were also in the running but dropped out early on.

The contest will be staged at St. Jakobshalle, Basel’s largest multi-purpose arena which can hold more than 12,000 spectators.

READ ALSO: Swiss city of Basel picked to host Eurovision 2025 

Federal tax deductions to increase in 2025

To offset the consequences of bracket creep — the process by which inflation pushes wages into higher tax brackets — the Federal Department of Finance (FDF) adjusts the rates and deductions for direct federal taxes annually.

Therefore for 2025, certain standard decutions from federal taxes will increase.

For instance, the child allowance and the support allowance will increase to 6,800 francs each — up from 6,700 francs previously

In addition, people who are in training can now deduct 100 francs more (up to a maximum of 13,000 francs) for the costs of career-oriented training and further education.

READ ALSO: Swiss government to adjust tax rates and deductions 

You may have to pay an entry fee to visit Zermatt for a day

Spending a day in the famed Swiss resort of Zermatt located at the foot of the iconic Matterhorn could soon cost 12 francs. 

The municipal authorities of the Valais village are in discussions with tourism officials to charge visitors who only spend one day at the resort a 12-franc fee.

That’s because day-trippers, unlike those who remain in the resort’s hotels or other accommodations for a longer period, don’t pay a ‘tourism tax’, which is typically used to finance local infrastructure and facilities in the community.

The 12-franc fee, if actually implemented, would be allocated to a fund dedicated to the sustainable development of the municipality.

READ ALSO: Zermatt considers charging day tourists 12 franc entry fee 

And also…

Switzerland boats thousands of picturesque communities; in fact, it would be difficult to find one that is not at least ‘pretty’ and at most ‘stunning.’

Now a new village joins the ranks of breathtaking locations: the bilingual commune of Murten / Morat in canton Fribourg was named as the country’s ‘most beautiful village’ of 2024:

READ ALSO: Switzerland names its ‘most beautiful village’ of 2024 

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For members

THE WEEK IN SWITZERLAND

Six big news stories from Switzerland you need to know about this week

Family reunification move from third-countries refused by MPs, and a bid to find out if foreigners use health system more than the Swiss, are among the Swiss news that The Local reported this week. You can catch up on everything in this weekly roundup.

Published: 13 September 2024 16:40 CEST
Six big news stories from Switzerland you need to know about this week

Swiss citizens can’t reunite with their third-country parents

The Council of States has rejected a bill which focused on whether naturalised or dual Swiss citizens could bring their foreign relatives from third countries to live in Switzerland.

The goal of the project aimed to eliminate the discrimination suffered by the Swiss citizens compared to their EU/EFTA counterparts regarding the admission of foreign members of their family from third countries within the framework of family reunification.

However, MPs rejected the move on the grounds that the number of additional people who would arrive in Switzerland under this measure could not be estimated, nor could the costs that this measure would generate for the country’s social security scheme.

READ ALSO: Switzerland rejects move to ease family reunification rules for naturalised Swiss citizens 

Switzerland to scrap some benefits from next year’s budget

The country’s deficit — estimated at about 3 billion francs a year — prompted the government to find ways to reduce the budget by at least 3 billion francs by 2027 and by at least 4 billion by 2030.

To achieve this goal, the government-appointed panel of experts presented over 60 measures that could considerably curb government spending.

Among the proposals put forth is to end federal subsidies for childcare, abolish tax incentives for capital withdrawals under the second and third pillar-pensions, and reduce the financing of the railway and road infrastructure.

READ ALSO: Three budget cuts Switzerland wants to make that will impact you

The amount of rent increase landlords are entitled to after renovations is set

Switzerland’s federal court has ruled that investments resulting in an increased value of rented properties can be remunerated at the same rate as the one defined for calculating the permissible net return.

This means that for an average tenant, this would be a return that exceeds the reference interest rate by 2 percent — as long as the reference interest rate is below 2 percent.

So if we take the current rate of 1.75 percent, the post-renovation rent could go up by 3.75 percent.

READ ALSO: Top Swiss court rules how much landlords can hike rent by after renovations 

SWISS airline and Zurich airport slammed for flight delays and cancellations

A new analysis by the passenger rights portal Flightright raised doubts about the reliability of the two flagships of Swiss aviation — despite their reputation for punctuality and reliability,

The portal compared the 20 European airlines with the most departures between June 20th and September 4th of this year, finding that Switzerland recorded both the most cancellations (2.5 percent) and the most delays (39 percent).

Furthermore, 43 percent of SWISS flights arrived more than 15 minutes late — the third-worst result of the 20 airlines examined.

READ ALSO: Why has Switzerland become so bad for flight delays and cancellations? 

MPs say foreigners use health system more than the Swiss

The National Council has voted in favour of a motion that would allow patients’ nationality to be collected, so authorities can examine the benefits of health insurance.

“For reasons of transparency, the nationality of insured persons must be considered as a variable to be analysed to examine the benefits payable by health insurance,” said deputy Cyril Aellenfrom the Radical Liberal party, one of the move’s instigators. 

The objective of this push is to find out if foreign residents cost the obligatory health insurance scheme more than the Swiss, although it is not clear at this point what purpose would this information ultimately serve.

READ ALSO: Switzerland to seek data on how foreigners use health services 

Foreign residents targeted by hateful mail

Our most read story of the week in Switzerland was a pretty disturbing one.

It was about an anti-foreigner flyer that was sent to the homes and perhaps workplaces of a number of international residents in Switzerland (and even Swiss citizens with foreign names) telling them they should leave and that they have “turned the country into a shit hole”.

Written in English, the text reads in part: “Foreigners, you are illegal…in 2014, the Swiss voted in a referendum to stop mass immigration from the EU, but are being unconstitutionally ignored by the government because of pressure from employers and economy lobbyists!”

It also says: “You’ve turned our beautiful country into a foreigner-infested, over-populated, over-priced and culturally-estranged shit hole.”

It’s not clear who is responsible for the leaflet.

READ ALSO: ‘You’ve made Switzerland a sh*thole’: Foreign residents targeted by xenophobic leaflet

 

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