Swiss incomes and wealth rose during Covid pandemic  

Between 2007 and 2020, the average income in Switzerland rose by 12.5% to just over CHF71,000. Keystone / Gaetan Bally

The Covid pandemic had a negative impact in many areas, but the bank account of the average Swiss wasn’t one of them. 

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Despite the difficult economic situation in 2020, both incomes and wealth continued to grow on average, with cantonal differences.  

One of the main reasons was the stable Swiss labour market, according to a study published on Thursday by Bank Cler and research institute BAK Economics. Unemployment only increased from 2.3% to 3.2% in the first year of the pandemic.  

“A collapse in the disposable income of the people of Switzerland was prevented thanks to the extensive support provided by the state,” said Samuel Meyer, CEO of Bank Cler. The decisive factor was heavy state compensation to incentivise Swiss employers to reduce employee hours rather than make job cuts, he said.

Incomes rising on average  

The study examined income and wealth trends from 2007 to the most recent data from 2020, during which time the average income in Switzerland rose by 12.5% to just over CHF71,000 ($77,973).  

However, the average is often heavily distorted by top earners, so it is better to look at the mean or median incomes to understand what a “normal citizen” earns. This figure also rose between 2007 and 2020 by just under 10%, or CHF4,800, to around CHF53,900.  

Income distribution within the population was also notable. For example, the top 10% of households in all cantons earned more than CHF100,000, and the average income was more than CHF131,400. Meanwhile, the bottom half of households earned less than CHF53,900.  

Differences across cantons  

As is so often the case, there were differences across individual cantons. Valais, for example, probably benefited from a combination of government support and domestic tourism, the bank continued. Incomes there rose most significantly in 2020, and from 2019 to 2020 they rose by 5.3% to CHF54,100. In contrast, the cantons of Schwyz (-6%) and Nidwalden (-5.2%) saw the sharpest falls in income.  

Nevertheless, these two central Swiss cantons were still in second and third place in the ranking of Switzerland’s highest average incomes, behind Zug with CHF115,300. In 2020, the average income in canton Schwyz was CHF96,200 and CHF85,400 in Nidwalden. Cantons Jura (CHF54,700) and Valais (CHF54,100) were at the bottom of the ranking. 

More millionaires  

Wealth increased even more significantly than income between 2007 and 2020. Private wealth increased by 60% to a total of CHF5.1 billion during the period, corresponding to around CHF1.31 million per household. Real estate assets in particular rose sharply, by 78% to CHF2.2 billion.  

The number of millionaires also increased thanks to rising share and property prices. During this period, the number of millionaires in Switzerland rose by 72% to more than 374,000 households. 2020 alone saw an additional 20,000 millionaires. The highest concentration of millionaires was in canton Zug (just under 15%), followed by Schwyz (just under 14%) and Appenzell Inner Rhodes (just over 12%).  

The total wealth of millionaires has also increased significantly since 2007, by over 90% to around CHF1.6 billion. The average wealth per millionaire has risen by 12.2%. 

Adapted from German by DeepL/kp/ts 

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