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What are the top worries among people in Switzerland?

What are the top worries among people in Switzerland?

As residents start to settle into another year of living in Switzerland, the latest Worry Barometer from UBS has revealed what people are most concerned about coming into 2025. The Swiss bank found that concerns about inflation have made way for heightened tensions around immigration and healthcare.

Health insurance costs the top worry in Switzerland

Taking over the annual “Worry Barometer” from now-sister bank Credit Suisse, UBS asked 2.250 people from across the cantons for their five top concerns and issues. The thinking goes that as Swiss citizens are given a lot of say on national issues and direction through referendums at the federal, cantonal and local levels, it is important for the government to regularly analyse the top concerns of voters.

In the latest study, released in December 2024, issues around health insurance, premiums and healthcare placed first with 48 percent of respondents saying it was one of their five top issues. Worries about insurance premiums have risen by 8 percentage points since the same study in 2023.

With the cost of basic health insurance having increased significantly in 2023, 2024, and 2025, it is perhaps no surprise that rising costs are top of people's minds. While Swiss healthcare providers have signed up to capping cost increases to 1 percent a year, it remains unclear whether they will be able to achieve the goal.

Climate change the second biggest worry, despite declining interest

Health insurance costs were followed by climate change as the second biggest worry among residents, with 32 percent of respondents naming it among their five top issues. Despite the fact that 2024 topped off three years of record-breaking temperatures in the alpine nation, concern about global warming has dropped by 6 percentage points since 2023.

Of the 20 most commonly cited worries in Switzerland, around one-third relate to living costs and personal finances - though concerns about inflation have dropped since 2023. The health of the pension system, rising housing costs and the cost of energy all earned places in the top 10.

Migration and crime a growing concern in Switzerland

The biggest rise in concern can be found around immigration, personal safety and crime. Refugee and asylum issues - specifically the number of asylum seekers being welcomed to Switzerland - and immigration ranked as the third and fourth most common worries, having placed ninth and sixth in 2023 respectively. 

UBS argued that the priority of “worries often shifts in line with real developments.” In 2023, the crime rate rose for the first time in 10 years, while 2024 saw Switzerland experience record population growth, premium and housing cost rises and multiple votes about pension reform. As a result, coinciding worries have risen in importance. 

Top worries among residents of Switzerland

In all, here are the most common worries in Switzerland as of December 2024:

  1. Health issues, health insurance, insurance premiums (48 percent)
  2. Environmental protection, climate change, environmental disasters (32 percent)
  3. Pension system, retirement provision (29 percent)
  4. Refugees, asylum issues (28 percent)
  5. Foreign nationals, free movement of people, immigration (26 percent)
  6. Increased housing costs, rise in rental prices (25 percent)
  7. Energy issues (20 percent)
  8. Relationship with Europe (18 percent)
  9. Inflation (16 percent)
  10. Personal safety, crime, violence (15 percent)

To read the full report, check out the UBS website.

Jan de Boer

Author

Jan de Boer

Editor for Switzerland at IamExpat Media. Jan studied History at the University of York and Broadcast Journalism at the University of Sheffield. Though born in York, Jan has lived most...

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