Pampered pooches, emergency sirens and pricey pads

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.

551,000

The national dog database Amicus counted over 551,000 canines at the end of last year. There are more than twice as many cats in Switzerland but exotic pets like llamas, camels and iguanas are in the minority.

41.1

In 2017, the Swiss worked an average of 41 hours and seven minutes a week. This makes them the second-hardest workers in Europe.

 

19

The number of categories of jobs that must be advertised at the local unemployment office in a bid to make it easier to hire Swiss people over foreign workers. The measure will be effective from July 1 and is in response to a nationwide vote in 2014 to restrict workers from the European Union. 

99 

A re-test of Switzerland’s 5,000-odd emergency sirens showed that 99% were in in working order. All the sirens had to be re-tested as the annual assessment in February showed problems with water sirens, which are meant to signal flood danger.

 

15,000

Looking to buy a holiday home in the Swiss Alps? Engadin/St. Moritz is the most expensive place to do so with property prices estimated at an average CHF15,000 ($15,140) per square metre.