Gold-digging: why some Swiss bury their wealth in the garden
It’s not just plants that can be found in Swiss gardens – there’s a fair bit of gold too. About ten tonnes of the precious metal is estimated to be buried across the country.
Gold is a well-known safe-haven asset. Keeping it, in the form of coins or ingots, represents a kind of insurance against the vicissitudes of life. So it’s hardly surprising that this practice is widespread in Switzerland, a country renowned for its insurance, banking and gold trading.
A recent studyExternal link by the University of St Gallen confirms the Swiss taste for the shiny metal. The representative survey found that two-thirds (65.2%) of the 3,000 respondents believed that investing in precious metals was “judicious”.
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Gold is even one of the Swiss public’s favourite forms of investment, albeit a long way behind property, but ahead of traditional financial products such as shares and bonds.
Sergio Rossi, professor of economics at the University of Fribourg, isn’t surprised by the gold craze. “Political and macroeconomic changes in the world are causing concern, even among the Swiss,” he told SWI swissinfo.ch.
“There are also inflationary pressures that are leading to fears of a decline in the purchasing power of savings deposited in banks. Gold is reputed to be a safe investment that doesn’t lose value. People who can afford it therefore buy gold to maintain or even increase their assets.”
Tonnes of gold
“The average wealth in Switzerland is clearly much higher than elsewhere,” Rossi said. “The Swiss therefore have the financial means to buy tonnes of gold, which is less easy or even impossible in other countries.”
By extrapolating the results of the survey, the University of St Gallen study was able to estimate the quantity of gold held in the form of coins or bars (jewellery wasn’t taken into account) by individuals in Switzerland. The figures are impressive.
The survey responses show that 22% of respondents own an average of 100.83 grams of gold, the equivalent of around CHF7,500 ($8,670). Applied to the population as a whole, these figures represent a total of 200 tonnes worth CHF14.9 billion.
And like Scrooge McDuck, the Swiss like to keep their gold close to hand. In 43% of cases they part with it only in an emergency.
Like pirates
The Swiss could also be compared to pirates who hide their loot. The survey shows that 5% of those questioned bury their gold in their garden. Again, extrapolating from this, the figures are impressive: around ten tonnes of gold worth CHF750 million are believed to be buried underground.
The precious metal is also frequently stored in the home, either hidden (15%) or in a safe (18%). The various forms of home storage are therefore almost as common as bank deposits (39%).
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“It surprised me a bit to learn that people were still burying their gold, but on reflection, it shows that a section of the population doesn’t believe in the solidity of banks. This is a sign that the banking sector should take on board, noting that its reputation has been affected,” says Rossi, referring to the problems encountered by some of Switzerland’s major banks in recent years.
Edited by Samuel Jaberg. Adapted from French by Thomas Stephens
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