Switzerland’s mood barometer reveals high satisfaction but cracks in unity

"I was very surprised by the high level of satisfaction in all three surveys," says Urs Bieri from gfs.bern. Keystone/Martial Trezzini

The world may appear gloomier lately but one thing has remained remarkably constant: the Swiss population's satisfaction with their lives. This is the result of a major SBC opinion poll.

The research institute gfs.bern has taken the pulse of the Swiss population and the Swiss Abroad thrice over three years in one of the largest opinion polls ever conducted in the country. Over 50,000 people participated in each of the three rounds of the survey between 2023 and 2025 (see box).

The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC), Swissinfo’s parent company, wanted to obtain a deeper understanding of how people in Switzerland are doing. The encouraging finding is that in all three rounds of the survey, four out of five respondents expressed satisfaction with their own lives. And this despite one crisis following another recently.

“I was very surprised by the high level of satisfaction in all three surveys,” says Urs Bieri from gfs.bern. “It shows that there are still many commonalities in Switzerland.”

Based on the survey results, Bieri identifies three main reasons for the general sense of well-being. Firstly, two out of three respondents perceive their financial situation as relaxed. Furthermore, four out of five are not worried about potentially losing their jobs. And lastly, nine out of 10 respondents are largely unworried about their personal safety.

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One out of five is not satisfied

But there are also those less satisfied with their lives, accounting for one-fifth of the respondents, with 14% moderately satisfied and 6% really dissatisfied.

“They are the ones struggling with the high prices in Switzerland, suffering from health problems or under general pressure to perform,” says Bieri. Still, this group of people has not grown over the past three years despite rising prices and health insurance premiums.

It is also worth making a distinction between the different language regions in Switzerland. Satisfaction is slightly higher in German-speaking and Romansh-speaking Switzerland than in the French- and Italian-speaking parts of the country. Particularly in Ticino, it is noticeable that issues such as pension provision, tax burden or health insurance premiums are a greater cause for concern than elsewhere.

Uncertainty about the future

Two changes stand in contrast to the generally positive sentiment across the country, which can be interpreted as warning signs. On the one hand, the future seems darker. Only 20% agree with the statement that children in Switzerland today can grow up more carefree than any other generation before them. In 2023, 32% agreed with the statement.

On the other hand, the foundation of shared values that holds Switzerland together has weakened. While in 2024, 68% believed that most Swiss people shared their values, only 58% think so today.

Bieri from gfs.bern says that this finding needs to be taken seriously. He sees it as a consequence of increased polarisation.

“Our shared values are under pressure even if we are still a long way from the situation we see in the US, for example,” he says.

The finding that 84% of respondents state that people in Switzerland have become more inconsiderate and selfish in recent years also fits this picture. However, this only applies to others given that 80% claim that they themselves behave respectfully in everyday life.

The Survey

The results of “How are you, Switzerland?” are based on a representative survey of 55,006 Swiss residents and Swiss Abroad. It was conducted by the research institute gfs.bern from May 12 to June 15, 2025, on behalf of the SBC. This is the third time within three years that this survey has been carried out. Compared to the versions of previous years, some of the questions were new or different, but most were identical.

In all, 3,000 respondents were selected from an online panel by gfs.bern in order to obtain a representative sample of the Swiss population (16 years and older). The sample was stratified according to language regions and proportioned according to age and gender.

The other respondents completed the questionnaire online. They were invited to do so via the SBC channels but decided for themselves whether or not they wanted to participate. This survey method is not representative. Representativeness is achieved by means of specific data weighting and data validation procedures.

The sampling error is +/- 1.8 % at 50:50 and 95 % probability.

Translated from German by Claire Micallef/ac