Flooded children s playground in Switzerland

Switzerland Today

Greetings from Zurich!

Just when you thought analysis of Switzerland’s new government minister was exhausted, some new research emerges. Beat Jans has pushed up the average age of the Federal Council by two years – making it one of the oldest in the region.

A wealth of statistics has emerged. But before that, here’s the news of the day.

This content was published on December 14, 2023 - 18:00

2 minutes

I write about the rapidly evolving artificial intelligence technology and its possible impacts on society. Originally from England, I spent some time at the BBC in London before moving to Switzerland to join SWI swissinfo.ch.

Geneva airport — © Keystone / Jean-christophe Bott

In the news: Lötschberg base tunnel is flooded, SNB keeps interest rates on hold and the Swiss stock exchange is poised to post red numbers.

The Lötschberg base tunnel is the latest subterranean transport system to stop functioning – the problem this time around is flooding.
The Swiss National Bank has decided to keep the key interest rate at 1.75% as inflation worries start to ease in Switzerland.
The operator of Switzerland’s main stock exchange, SIX Group, warns of billions in losses this year as shares in companies it has acquired fall in value.
Flights at Geneva Airportwere temporarily suspended this morning after a private jet slid off the runway into the grass.

It’s not how old you are…

New Federal Councillor Beat Jans is 59. Hardly the most illuminating fact, but it has inspired the media to crunch the numbers on the average age of governments.

The arrival of Jans from the start of next year, to replace the 51-year-old Alain Berset, will bump up the average age of the Federal Council from 59 to 61. This will make Switzerland the joint oldest-governed country when compared to its immediate neighbours.

Only Italy will be as venerable from January 1, with an average age of 61 among its government ministers, Swiss public broadcasters SRF and RTS have uncovered.

And there’s more….

Only three Swiss Federal Councils have been older since 1900: an average age of 62 was recorded in 1976 and 1981.

The oldest Federal Council can be traced back to 1910, when the average age was 63. Just nine years later, the average age plummeted to 51 – the youngest on record since 1900.

I’m hardly in a position to be ageist and I’m not sure how much light this can shed on the potential of the current group of government ministers.

But when everything else has been researched about the latest Federal Councillor and his colleagues, there are always some more facts to be found.