Fewer cars per inhabitant in large Swiss cities

In Basel there is one car for every three people - the lowest rate in Switzerland Keystone

The number of cars in Swiss cities of more than 100,000 inhabitants dropped by a sixth between 2007 and 2015, from 0.43 cars per inhabitant to 0.36. On average in Switzerland there are 0.53 cars per person.

However, mid-sized cities such as Biel, Lugano and Lucerne saw the greatest increase – from 0.43 cars per person to 0.48 – according to figures published this week by the Association of Swiss Cities and the Federal Statistical Office.

Growth was also seen in cities of fewer than 10,000 inhabitants, where the rate has risen from 0.53 to 0.56 cars per person.

In total, 172 cities, towns and urban municipalities were analysed. Of these, Cham, a municipality of some 15,000 inhabitants in canton Zug, had the most cars per person: 0.77.

The lowest figures were recorded in Basel (0.33), Zurich (0.35) and Lausanne and Geneva (0.37).

In 2015, there were more than 4.4 million cars in Switzerland and 710,000 motorcycles. There were many more motorcycles per head in the French- and Italian-speaking parts of the country.