The Swiss voice in the world since 1935
Top stories
Stay in touch with Switzerland

Swiss food staples up to 20% more expensive from last year

Bread, butter and other food on a family breakfast table
Family breakfasts in Switzerland are significantly more expensive now than at the same period in 2022. © Keystone / Gaetan Bally

Inflation continues to hit Swiss consumers, with the price of some food staples, such as margarine and cooking oils, rising by 20% in March on an annual basis.

The price of sugar increased 17%, butter 12.2% and milk, cheese and eggs by 8.5% in March compared to the same month last year, according to research from price comparison portal Comparis.

+ Read how Switzerland copes with rising prices

The latest official figures from the Federal Statistical Office revealed an inflation rate of 3.4% for a wider range of items in February year-on-year.

“Just two years ago, the vast majority of economists believed that inflation would quickly fall again,” Aymo Brunetti, former head of economic policy for the Swiss government told SWI swissinfo.ch last month. “Probably many economists thought that inflation was a phenomenon of the past.” 

However, the cost of some items has started to cool off, and even fell in March compared to 2022.

Fuel prices fell by 7.4%, health services cost 3.6% less and telecommunication bills dropped by 3.4%, says Comparis.

Looking at the full range of food, fuel and service costs analysed by the price comparison portal, Swiss consumers paid 3.5% more in March than the same month last year.

Switzerland’s central bank has responded to rising prices by increasing interest rates from negative territory to 1.5% by March.

Popular Stories

News

Federal Council and Parliament campaign in favour of abolishing the imputed rental value

More

Swiss government backs abolishing imputed rental value

This content was published on The abolition of the imputed rental value in federal tax is intended to reduce incentives for high private debt and simplify the tax system. On Friday, Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter spoke on behalf of the Federal Council in favour of Parliament's proposal.

Read more: Swiss government backs abolishing imputed rental value
Swiss economy barely grows in the second quarter

More

Swiss economy stagnates in second quarter

This content was published on After a strong start to the year, the Swiss economy has slowed considerably. In the second quarter, gross domestic product (GDP) rose by just 0.1 per cent on an adjusted basis compared to the previous quarter.

Read more: Swiss economy stagnates in second quarter
One-and-a-half-year conditional prison sentence for priest in Ticino

More

Swiss priest found guilty of child sex abuse

This content was published on The Ticino cantonal criminal court in Lugano has found a priest guilty of multiple sexual assault and sexual offences with minors. The man was sentenced to a conditional 18-month prison term.

Read more: Swiss priest found guilty of child sex abuse

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR