By the numbers: the Geneva passport boom

Keystone

Almost every article published by swissinfo.ch contains a percentage, an age, an amount of money or some other figure. Here’s a round-up of the most interesting statistics to appear in the past week’s stories.

Sunday

71.6

The percentage of voters who rejected a proposal to scrap the mandatory licence fee for Switzerland’s public broadcasters. 

Tuesday

5,789

Almost 5,800 foreigners living in Geneva were granted Swiss citizenship in 2017 – a big jump from 2016 as applicants raced to meet the end-of-year deadline, when stricter rules came into force. 

Wednesday

57,000,000

Switzerland exported steel products worth CHF57 million to the US last year. The Swiss and 17 other members of the World Trade Organization have expressed concerns over Donald Trump’s decision to slap tariffs of 25% on steel imports. Swiss aluminium exports, worth CHF30 million, could also be affected. 

Thursday

60

Authorities in Geneva have ruled that private apartments or houses can be rented on platforms such as Airbnb for a maximum of 60 days a year. People who break the limit will be fined.

Friday

1

Reactor Block 1 of the Beznau nuclear plant, Switzerland’s first and the world’s oldest, was given the green light at the beginning of the week to restart operations after being out of service for three years. But by the end of the week, the leftwing Social Democrat Party was calling for it to be kept offline, saying it was “dangerous and unreasonable” to have it operating again.