Graffiti bill, cash economy and costly drugs
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.
5,400,000
The Swiss Federal Railways spent CHF5.4 million ($5.48 million) in 2017 to clean up graffiti on trains and infrastructure. According to the firm, the costs are passed on to travellers via either higher ticket prices or taxes.
70
According to a Swiss National Bank survey, 70% of Swiss payments are made with cash. Those surveyed believe cash is more widely accepted, user-friendly, speedier and more cost efficient than any other payment method.
500
A new 500-seater boat will be introduced on Lake Geneva in 2020 to provide relief to cross-border workers from France. It will double the number of crossings between Evian in France and the Swiss city of Lausanne.
30
The Zurich airport was shut down for 30 minutes last Thursday due to concerns over heavy thunderstorms and lightning. Many Swiss towns and cities were inundated and the overall damage to flooded buildings and hail-hit vehicles was estimated at CHF4 million ($4 million).
52
The price of generic drugs in Switzerland in 2017 was found to be 52% higher than the average of nine European countries. Patented drugs were 9% more expensive.
500
Food giant Nestlé announced that it would be cutting over 500 jobs in Switzerland over 18 months to increase profitability. The posts, which are mostly in IT, will be outsourced to Spain.
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