Exploding heads, corruption money and bankrupt businesses

Keystone / Ennio Leanza

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.

17:45

This is how long it took (in minutes and seconds) for the head of the Böögg – a fireworks-stuffed effigy that looks like a snowman – to explode during Zurich’s traditional end-of-winter festival. It apparently means that the coming summer months will be mild but not exceptional.

365

The Swiss justice ministry says it has returned to Brazil CHF365 million ($365 million) in seized assets from a corporate corruption scandal. But some CHF330 million remains blocked as Brazil is trying to get to the bottom of the Petrobras-Odebrecht case.

0.44

Switzerland spent 0.44% of its Gross National Income on development assistance in 2018. That slightly down on the previous year and below the UN target of 0.7%.

13,971

Bankruptcies in Switzerland reached a record number last year, according to official statistics. The nearly 14,000 cases translate to overall financial losses of some CHF2 billion ($2 billion).

51

More than seven weeks ahead of a nationwide vote on Swiss gun laws, opponents clearly lag behind those who support the legal amendment, according to an opinion poll. The ballot box verdict is scheduled for May 19.