Switzerland Today

Dear Swiss Abroad,

The good news is that Switzerland remains one of the world’s most innovative countries (take a look at eight extraordinary Swiss inventions from the past 12 months). The less good news is that the Swiss haven’t been as pessimistic about their personal finances for several years. Discover more about those and other stories from Switzerland on Tuesday.

© Keystone / Christian Beutler

In the news:  Not since 2017 have people in Switzerland been this gloomy about the New Year. A quarter of respondents to an annual survey on personal finance expect things to get worse in 2023, with the main reason being rising health insurance premiums.

• Overall, 27.5% expect their financial situation to deteriorate in the coming year, according to a representative survey by comparis.ch published today. What’s more, inflation means 52.6% say they plan to save more and spend less.
• Switzerland is one of the ten most important countries in supporting Ukraine, according to former Ukrainian ambassador to Switzerland Artem Rybchenko. However, he says new instruments against oligarch money are needed. “Our goal is to ensure that Russian oligarchs with money in Switzerland who are involved in this war cannot simply use this money for their hobby or pass it on to their children.”
• The Bex Salt Mines in western Switzerland are celebrating welcoming a record number of visitors this year – more than 80,000. It was mainly Swiss who flocked to the 50km of mines, discovered in the 15^th century, although European visitors began to return after the pandemic.

Keystone / Arno Balzarini

Romansh, one of Switzerland’s four national languages, is losing ground – literally. The two municipalities of Surses (pictured) and Muntogna da Schons in the eastern canton of Graubünden are now part of German-speaking Switzerland.

Even though the Romansh community has lost a couple of municipalities, the number of speakers – around 40,000 – has remained stable “for decades”, the Federal Statistical Office said today. About 40% live in Romansh territory, mostly in Graubünden.

The office pointed out that the increase in the number of German speakers in traditionally Romansh-speaking municipalities in Graubünden means several localities joined German-speaking Switzerland, particularly in the second half of the 20th century. Since 2000, however, the linguistic boundaries have remained stable, with the exception now of Surses (around 2,500 inhabitants) and Muntogna da Schons (around 400).

Municipalities, also known as communes, are the lowest administrative division of Switzerland, below the federal government and the 26 cantons. They are governed by their own elected representatives and often enjoy considerable discretionary powers, deciding on matters of education, health, transport and public security. They also collect taxes. At the start of this year there were 2,148 municipalities in Switzerland, ranging in size from more than 400,000 inhabitants (Zurich) down to about 40.

synature / epfl.ch

A biodegradable paper battery, an AI microphone that can detect wolves (pictured) and a student-built electric plane are among several ingenious Swiss inventions and innovations this year.

Switzerland is one of the world’s most innovative countries, with a reputation for excellence in science and technology. It invests 3.15% of annual GDP in research and development (2019 figure), coming seventh in an international innovation rankingExternal link.

My colleague Simon Bradley looked at eight remarkable Swiss research projects and inventions from 2022.