Burka ban, dual nationality and politicians bowing out

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.

73,830

The number of people in the northern Swiss canton of St Gallen who voted in favour of a ban on burkas in the region. St Gallen thus becomes the second of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, after Ticino in 2016, to ban the burka. The Swiss government has come out against a similar proposal at a national level.

2

The number of Federal Council members who announced their resignation in the space of a week. The Economics Minister Johann Schneider-Ammann was first to wave goodbye, followed a couple of days later by Doris Leuthard, the minister for transport, energy, communications and the environment. Both of them will step down from the seven-member executive body by the end of the year.

17

The percentage of Swiss residents above the age of 15 that have dual nationality. The non-Swiss nationality most prevalent among dual nationals is Italian (24.7%), followed by French (11.2%) and German (7.8%). 

2,200

The number of Swiss jobs that pharma giant Novartis intends to cut over the next four years. The Basel-based firm currently employs around 13,000 people in Switzerland.

1.2 

The percentage by which mandatory health insurance premiums are expected to increase on average in 2019. For adults over 26, the average increase is 2.4% adding up to CHF372.3 ($388.1) per month.