War is greatest worry for the Swiss

War is the greatest worry for people in neutral Switzerland Keystone

Almost half (43%) of Swiss are worried about war, according to a nationwide representative survey. Perhaps surprisingly, immigration was ranked only fifth (29%). 

The environment and the climate concerned 40% of the 1,311 people questioned online from July 10-20 by the LINK Institute in collaboration with Swisscom portal bluewin.ch. 

This was followed, in order, by stress, crime, immigration, politics, health, the economy, work, money and family/relationship, all of which worried more than 20% of the population. 

There were regional differences: whereas war was a worry for every other German-speaking Swiss, it concerned only 30% of those in the French- and Italian-speaking parts of the country. Similarly, in western Switzerland immigration was back in tenth place. 

The biggest worries for French-speaking Swiss were unemployment, then health and stress. 

The greatest concern for their Italian-speaking compatriots was stress, followed by crime and unemployment. 

Family is also the thing that make the Swiss happiest: 81% said their family was the most important factor in their happiness, followed by hobbies/freetime (76%) and friends (69%). In sixth place was their pets (27%).