Author: switzerlandtimes.ch

Tick bites are on the rise in Switzerland. Suva, the national accident insurance provider, estimates that nearly 18,000 cases were recorded in 2025, close to the peak seen in 2020 and well above the 9,000 reported annually in the mid-2000s. Between 2020 and 2024 the figure had already climbed to more than 14,000 a year. Under Swiss law, tick bites are classified as accidents, meaning treatment costs are covered by accident insurance. Though often harmless, ticks can transmit diseases such as Lyme disease and tick-borne encephalitis (TBE). On average, around eight people a year receive disability pensions as a result…

The youth wing of the Liberal Party (PLR/FDP) has launched a popular initiative to curb the growth of Switzerland’s federal administration, arguing that it has expanded silently, continuously and without restraint, reported RTS. Backed by other centre-right parties, the proposal would tie the growth of federal spending to changes in the median wage, effectively capping the size of government unless incomes rise in tandem. The initiative, dubbed a brake on administration, includes safeguards. Parliament would be able to override the limit by an absolute majority in the event of an emergency, and certain areas—notably the federal institutes of technology—would be…

Switzerland has reduced its domestic greenhouse-gas emissions by 27.3% since 1990, according to the latest figures from the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN). Total emissions fell to 40.1m tonnes of CO₂ equivalent in 2024, about 0.5m tonnes less than a year earlier, and will be reported to the UN climate secretariat. The steepest decline has come from buildings, where emissions are down by 47% over the period, largely reflecting the rapid spread of heat pumps. Industry has also cut emissions substantially, to 8.9m tonnes—around a third below 1990 levels. For the first time, Switzerland has included negative emissions in…

Plans to create a mosque in the village of Siebnen, in the canton of Schwyz, have been shelved after a surge of local opposition. The Albanian-Islamic community behind the project says it is withdrawing for now to avoid further tensions, reported SRF. We do not want to divide the population, Sinan Sadriu, head of the local association, told SRF. The group had hoped to convert the historic Läufferhaus, in the centre of the village, into a place of prayer for local Muslims. Instead, it will seek talks with the municipal authorities to explore alternative locations. The plans prompted a swift…

As Switzerland debates the “No to a 10-million Switzerland” initiative backed by the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP), it is worth setting the country’s demographic trajectory in a broader European context. Switzerland’s population has expanded rapidly. Over the past half-century, it has recorded the third-fastest growth rate in western Europe, behind only Luxembourg and Ireland. The population has risen from about 6.3m in 1975 to more than 9m today—Eurostat data. Unlike in many countries, this increase has not been driven primarily by births. Instead, immigration has done most of the work. High wages, plentiful jobs and economic stability have made Switzerland…

According to various media reports, the Federal Council has summoned Martin Schlegel, president of the Swiss National Bank (SNB), for talks. At issue are the bank’s interventions in currency markets, which the United States has long viewed with suspicion. A March 31st deadline set by Washington for concluding a trade agreement with Bern has come and gone without incident after a ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States, which struck down tariffs imposed since April 2025 by Donald Trump, altered the landscape. Even so, Guy Parmelin, Switzerland’s economy minister, has played down the prospect of a swift deal.…

In March the index compiled by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) dropped by 12.5 points to –42.9, compared with February 2026. That marks a decline of 8.1 points from the same month a year earlier. The fall leaves sentiment at its weakest since early 2024. The downturn appears to reflect rising geopolitical uncertainty. The recent conflict in Iran is likely to have weighed heavily on households’ expectations, adding to a broader sense of economic unease. The deterioration was broad-based. Sub-indices tracking expectations for the economy, households’ future financial situation and the timing of major purchases all fell below…

The Swiss government has opened a consultation on a counter-proposal to a new popular initiative on corporate responsibility, arguing that companies should respect human rights and the environment without undermining their competitiveness. A previous initiative failed in 2020, winning a majority of voters but not of cantons. A watered-down counter-proposal came into force in 2022, requiring large firms to publish sustainability reports alongside their annual accounts. Campaigners say it has had little impact. In May 2025 they launched a second initiative, again seeking to make large companies liable if their foreign subsidiaries are involved in human-rights abuses or environmental damage.…

Avalanches swept away more people than usual in the winter of 2025–26, though the death toll remained broadly in line with the average. A fragile snowpack led to a surge in incidents. By the end of March, 244 people had been caught in 171 avalanches, according to the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF. Over the past decade the averages were 182 people in 127 incidents. Yet fatalities, at 15, were typical. Thirty-seven people were completely buried. In most of the 13 fatal accidents, avalanches were triggered in weak layers of old snow. Avalanches involving people were recorded…

Six months after a decisive “yes” at the ballot box, the government has clarified how it will implement reforms to the taxation of residential property. It has consulted the Conference of Cantonal Finance Directors and concluded that cantons need adequate time to prepare for the transition. Mountain cantons had pushed for a later start, arguing that abolition should not take effect before 2030. To offset lost revenue, tourism-heavy cantons will be allowed to levy a tax on second homes. Yet these cantons now say such a tax is more complex—legally and politically—than suggested during the referendum campaign. In principle, the…