Male doctors earn 25% more than their female counterparts

Overall in 2019, men made up 60% of self-employed doctors © Keystone / Gaetan Bally

Self-employed male doctors earn on average 25% more than female self-employed doctors, according to the latest statistics from the Federal Statistical Office (FSO).

Doctors who undertook surgery are also bigger earners, the pre-pandemic statistics showed.

“Despite taking into account key explanatory factors, such as the speciality or volume of work, a male physician’s income in 2019 was on average 25% higher than that of a female physician,” observed the FSO in a statement on FridayExternal link.

The wage gap between the sexes is above the Swiss-wide average of 19% across all professional sectors.

The Swiss Medical Association said on FridayExternal link that the “significant” difference meant that the annual median wage of a self-employed male doctor was CHF192,515 ($211,042) in 2019, but for a female doctor, it was CHF124,906.

Surgery

Overall, the FSO found that half of self-employed doctors earned more than CHF162,000 in 2019 (median annual net income).

Doctors performing surgery (including, for example ear, nose and throat specialists, and ophthalmologists) had the highest median income at CHF266,000, while psychiatrists had the lowest at CHF108,000. Primary health care professionals made CHF172,000 a year, the statistics found.

Whether a doctor worked additionally as an attending physician in a hospital or clinic or had a practice pharmacy were also factors in generating higher median annual net incomes, the FSO said.