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Counting birds and surprise snowfall

Snow on rooftops in Swiss capital Bern
© Keystone/Alessandro Della Valle

Almost every article published by swissinfo.ch contains a percentage, an age, an amount of money or some other figure. Here’s a round-up of some of the most interesting statistics to appear in the past week’s stories.

19

Record snowfall for the month of May turned lower-lying regions of Switzerland into a winter landscape last weekend. Nineteen centimetres of snow were recorded in the eastern city of St Gallen.

42.3

The proportion of young women in higher education has risen to 42.3% from 9.8% over the past two decades according to the Federal Statistics Office. They now dominate higher education diplomas.

68,975

This is the number of birds spotted in Swiss parks and gardens by volunteers over one hour last weekend. The most widespread species are the sparrows, the magpies and the blackbirds. 

65

Nearly two-thirds of respondents to an opinion poll said they were in favour of tightening Swiss gun laws – an issue that will be put to a nationwide vote on May 19.

3,315

Switzerland benefits more than any member country of the European Union from access to the world’s largest economic zone. On average, Swiss residents are CHF3,315 (€2,914) richer every year as a result, a survey has found.

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

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