Some 58% of Swiss buildings heated with fossil fuels

Switzerland is known as a country of renters. About 58% of people live in rented accommodation. © Keystone / Christian Beutler

The share of buildings heated with oil has declined in recent years while gas heating as well as heat pumps have become more popular.

Heating oil was used in 41% of buildings in Switzerland and thus remains the main energy source for heating according to housing statisticsExternal link published on Thursday. However, this proportion has steadily declined over the past 40 years.

Some 18% of buildings had gas heating, twice as many as 30 years ago. This, however, varies dramatically by type of building and location. The share of gas heating in single-family houses was 16%, whereas it was 28% of apartments with ten or more units. In urban communities, 30% of buildings were heated with gas, compared to only 4% in rural communities.

The proportion of buildings with a heat pump (17%) has quadrupled since 2000. It is more common for single-family houses than in large apartment buildings. Heat pumps, which extract heat from the air, water or ground, are seen as central reducing dependence on fossil fuels and reducing CO2 emissions.

Some 12% of buildings in Switzerland were heated with wood and 8% with electricity.

In 2021, two thirds (67%) of residential buildings in Switzerland belonged to private individuals. Legal entities, including real estate companies, owned around every tenth building (12%).