Swiss life satisfaction ‘the highest in Europe’

The Swiss population is particularly content in interpersonal areas such as living together, the atmosphere at work, and personal relationships. KEYSTONE

Swiss citizens are the most content in Europe despite almost one in ten people enduring financial difficulties, according to an official survey.

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According to the Federal Statistical Office (FSO), Switzerland had the highest level of life satisfaction of all European countries in 2022. This has hardly changed since 2014. Nevertheless, almost one in ten people were living with financial difficulties.

+ How happy is Switzerland really?

Switzerland achieved a life satisfaction score of 8 out of 10, putting it ahead of neighbouring countries Austria (7.9), Italy (7.2), France (7) and Germany (6.5), the FSO reported on Tuesday.

Satisfaction increases with age, level of education, and income. The Swiss population is particularly content in interpersonal areas such as living together, the atmosphere at work, and personal relationships.

Over half of people aged 16 and over were very content in these areas in 2022. The population is rather unhappy with their leisure time or personal financial situation. Only one in three people were very content here.

+ Cost of living squeeze threatens Swiss household with poverty

In 2022, 4.9% of the population had to do without important goods, services, or social activities for financial reasons. Only one in ten people affected by this deprivation are very content with their lives, the report continued. Of the population as a whole, those who are ‘very content’ accounts for more than a third. A quarter of deprived people stated that they felt discouraged or depressed most or all the time. The figure for the whole population was only 5%.

702,000 people are poor

The poverty rate was 8.2%, which corresponds to around 702,000 people. In the previous year, however, the rate was even higher at 8.7%. The price increases for electricity, heating costs and consumer goods since 2022 are not yet reflected in the FSO figures. Foreign nationals, single-parent households, people with no post-compulsory education, and households with no gainfully employed persons are most frequently affected by income poverty.

Among the working population, the poverty rate was 3.8%, which corresponds to 144,000 people. In 2022, the poverty threshold for a single person was CHF2,284 ($2,534) per month and CHF4,010 per month for two adults with two children.

Adapted from German by DeepL/dkk/ts

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