According to the latest Worry Barometer from the price comparison site Comparis, the recent decline in purchasing power has had a big impact on what people in Switzerland are most worried about. Just six months after climate change was named as the biggest worry for residents of the alpine nation, the latest figures show that inflation is now the centre of people’s concerns.

Inflation worries top of the agenda in Switzerland

In the survey of 1.009 people conducted in May 2023, Comparis found that inflation is now the biggest concern among the Swiss population. 69 percent said that price hikes in Switzerland were the subject of concern, while 71 percent said that global inflation rates remain a worry - 5 percent more people now cite inflation as a concern compared to the survey completed in December 2022.

72 percent of those surveyed said that they are now facing heightened household bills as a result of inflation, and 27 percent of adults expect their financial situation to get worse in the coming year. The most commonly reported financial concerns were rises in the price of health insurance (67 percent) and the increased cost of renting a house or apartment (39 percent).

People starting to worry less about climate change

In contrast, after topping the list of concerns in December 2022, only 65 percent of respondents cited climate change as a problem, 3 percent less than at the end of last year. "With rising prices, climate change seems to lose some of its horror," noted Comparis expert Michael Kuhn, with 20 Minuten adding that many people in Switzerland feel like they cannot afford to care about the problem when things that affect them on the day to day are so clear and present. 

This lack of enthusiasm for combating climate change is also reflected in people’s attitudes, with Kuhn noting that the willingness to give up certain luxuries or pay more in favour of the climate, such as by offsetting CO2 emissions, has dropped from 13 percent in 2021 to just 8 percent today. Willingness to fly less has also fallen from 29 percent to 24 percent.

Kuhn added that how much a person worries about climate change varies by level of education, with 70 percent of those who have graduated from higher education citing it as a worry, compared to 61 percent of people who only graduated from primary and secondary school. It also changes by sex: 70 percent of women continue to say climate change is a worry, compared to just 60 percent of men.

Most common worries in Switzerland in May 2023

In all, here are the most common worries in Switzerland as of May 2023:

1. Inflation worldwide (71 percent)
2. Inflation in Switzerland (69 percent)
3. Climate change (65 percent)
4. Supply chain issues (57 percent)
5. Energy shortages (53 percent)
6. Pandemics (31 percent)

For more information about the study, please visit the Comparis website.

Thumb image credit: Shutterstock.com / SIRNARM USAVICH