Men and women in Switzerland are far from equal when it comes to health. On average, men die nearly four years before women and are more likely to be overweight. And women are more likely to suffer from chronic illness and depression, according to the 2022 Swiss Health Survey published by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) this week. The disparities stem not only from biology but also from how we live, noted the FSO.
Women in Switzerland continue to outlive men—life expectancy at birth is 3.8 years higher—but they spend most of the extra time in poor health—the gap in healthy life expectancy is just 0.4 years (71.2 years for women, 70.8 for men).
In addition, women are significantly more likely than men to report living with at least one chronic condition (55% versus 44%)—much of this is down to the extra 3.4 years they live in poor health. Women are more prone to musculoskeletal pain—backaches and kidney pain affect half of all women compared with 40% of men. Almost one in three women report long-standing limitations in daily activities, compared with just one in four men.
Depression shows an even sharper divide, especially among the young. Moderate to severe depressive symptoms affect 12% of women, versus 8% of men. Among 15 to 24-year-olds, the rate rises to 26% for women—double that of their male peers. The divergence, well-documented in psychiatric literature, emerges at puberty and is attributed partly to sex hormones. But social stressors also play a role.
Men, meanwhile, are more likely to carry excess weight. More than half of Swiss men (52%) were overweight or obese in 2022, compared with just over a third (34%) of women. This may partly relate to how people feel about their weight. Women were more likely to be dissatisfied with their weight—52% of overweight women expressed dissatisfaction, compared to 29% of overweight men.
Educational attainment also plays a role. Women without post-compulsory education were 2.9 times more likely to be obese and twice as likely to be overweight than women with tertiary education. For men, the relative risks were 2.4 and 1.4, respectively.
Smoking rates have fallen over the past 30 years, especially among men. But among young adults, the gender gap has closed: in 2022, 26% of women aged 15–24 smoked, nearly identical to the 25% of young men who did.
The Swiss Health Survey, conducted every five years since 1992, is based on responses from 21,930 individuals aged 15 and older living in private households.
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