Listening: One in eight Swiss households in payment arrears
More than one in eight people, or 12.1% of the population, lived in a household with at least one payment in arrears in 2022. Overall, 40.9% of the population had at least one form of debt in that year.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA
Deutsch
de
Jede achte Person lebt in einem Haushalt mit Zahlungsrückstand
Original
This is according to data published on Tuesday by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO). The most common arrears were tax bills and health insurance premiums.
The FSO also analysed mortgages (not main residence), vehicle leases, small or consumer loans, instalment payments, maintenance payments, debts to family or friends as well as overdrafts or unpaid credit card bills. Overall, 40.9% of the population had at least one debt.
Accordingly, 5.5% of the population lived in households with arrears to the tax office. A further 4.4% were in arrears with health insurance companies. The number of people struggling with at least one type of arrears in the reporting year fell with increasing age, level of education and income.
The family situation also mattered: 14.2% of people in households with children were in arrears, compared to 7.7% without children. Almost a fifth of people in a single-parent household had at least one payment in arrears in 2022.
The most common type of debt in 2022 was vehicle leasing: 14.5% of the population lived in a household with this type of debt. Mortgages on a second home accounted for 12.6%, while 37.6% had at least one type of loan, an overdraft or unpaid credit card bills.
The reasons for borrowing differed according to income. The top 20% earners were more likely to use a loan to finance a mortgage on a second home or home furnishings (26.8%) than the lowest-20% of earners (7.5%).
In the poorest fifth of the population, loans were more often used for everyday expenses, personal items or to pay off other debts.
Adapted from German by DeepL/ac
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
Popular Stories
More
Banking & Fintech
UBS releases ‘hundreds’ of staff in fresh wave of job cuts
Should Switzerland take measures to support its struggling industries?
Industrial policies are back in fashion, not only in the United States but also in the EU. Should Switzerland, where various industries are struggling, draw inspiration from such policies?
As a Swiss Abroad, how do you feel about the emergence of more conservative family policies in some US states?
In recent years several US states have adopted more conservative policies on family issues, abortion and education. As a Swiss citizen living there, how do you view this development?
This content was published on
A committee of Switzerland’s House of Representatives has found the people’s initiative to limit fireworks too extreme, but has suggested a counter-proposal.
UN investigators report evidence of crimes in Syria and call for national dialogue
This content was published on
UN investigators in Geneva report ample evidence of crimes in Syria and urge the regime to follow through on its promise of a national dialogue.
Swiss Trade Union warns EU deal could threaten wages
This content was published on
The Swiss Trade Union Federation warns that the new bilateral agreement between Switzerland and the EU could threaten wage protection and public services.
Credit Suisse fines from Mozambique scandal to fund victims’ compensation
This content was published on
The fines imposed on Credit Suisse for the Mozambique scandal will be allocated to a fund for the victims, amounting to $105.5 million.
‘Confederation is a subsidy machine’: Swiss finance minister
This content was published on
The Swiss government is a machine for distributing subsidies to various actors in the country, says finance minister Karin Keller-Sutter.
Lack of funds ends third bid to salvage Säntis ship from Swiss lake
This content was published on
A third attempt to salvage the steamship Säntis, lying at the bottom of Lake Constance in Switzerland since 1933, has failed before it has even begun.
Nestlé Waters on trial in France over illegal waste dumps
This content was published on
Bottled water producer Nestlé Waters to stand trial, accused of illegally dumping waste and maintaining unauthorised dumps.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.