Country dossier: official statistics, cities, pay rules, immigration routes and industries, with every source and year shown.
By AtiveSite · Published 06/11/2026 · Updated 06/11/2026 · Every figure is linked to its source below.
Switzerland is one of the 21 countries in the AtiveSite world dossier. This page is the starting point: from here you jump to its cities, labour statistics, pay and minimum-wage rules, immigration routes, industries and (where we already have them) live jobs. Each block shows its source and year; data we have not yet collected is marked as planned, never guessed.
| Fact ⇅ | Value ⇅ |
|---|---|
| Capital | Bern |
| Region | Western Europe |
| Languages | German, French, Italian, Romansh |
| Currency | CHF |
| Free-movement area | Yes: EFTA (bilateral agreements with the EU) |
| Population | 9,092,436 (2025, World Bank) |
| Minimum wage system | No national statutory minimum wage; some cantons set their own. |
| Indicator ⇅ | Value ⇅ | Year ⇅ |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 9,092,436 | 2025 |
| GDP per capita (current US$) | US$ 114,769 | 2025 |
| GDP per capita, PPP (current international $) | US$ 102,513 | 2025 |
| GNI per capita, PPP | US$ 101,690 | 2025 |
| Unemployment rate (ILO model) | 4.9% | 2025 |
| Youth unemployment (15–24) | 9.0% | 2025 |
| Labour force participation rate | 66.7% | 2025 |
| Employment-to-population ratio | 63.5% | 2025 |
| Wage and salaried workers (% of employment) | 83.1% | 2025 |
| Self-employed (% of employment) | 16.9% | 2025 |
| Inflation (consumer prices, annual) | 0.2% | 2025 |
| Urban population | 85.7% | 2025 |
| Migrants (% of population) | 31.1% | 2024 |
World Bank series modelled by the ILO and national sources; years differ by indicator and country, so compare within the same year when possible.
| Indicator ⇅ | Value ⇅ | Year ⇅ |
|---|---|---|
| Life expectancy at birth | 84.4 years | 2024 |
| Intentional homicides per 100,000 people | 0.60 | 2023 |
| Current health expenditure (% of GDP) | 11.7% | 2023 |
| Government expenditure on education (% of GDP) | 4.9% | 2022 |
| PM2.5 air pollution, mean annual exposure (µg/m³) | 8.3 | 2023 |
| Individuals using the Internet (% of population) | 97.3% | 2025 |
Safety, health and environment indicators are national averages. They describe the country, not a specific city or neighbourhood.
Circle size follows population. Click a circle to jump to the table row.
City guides for this country are on the roadmap; the same layers built for Norway (jobs, industries, commuting, companies, pay and cost) will follow.
| # ⇅ | City ⇅ | Population (GeoNames) ⇅ | Lat, lon ⇅ | Map ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Zürich | 415,367 | 47.37, 8.55 | Map |
| 2 | Geneva | 201,741 | 46.20, 6.15 | Map |
| 3 | Basel | 177,595 | 47.56, 7.57 | Map |
| 4 | Lausanne | 139,111 | 46.52, 6.63 | Map |
| 5 | Bern | 121,631 | 46.95, 7.45 | Map |
| 6 | Winterthur | 111,840 | 47.51, 8.72 | Map |
| 7 | Luzern | 81,691 | 47.05, 8.31 | Map |
| 8 | Sankt Gallen | 75,833 | 47.42, 9.37 | Map |
| 9 | Lugano | 63,185 | 46.01, 8.96 | Map |
| 10 | Biel/Bienne | 55,120 | 47.14, 7.25 | Map |
| 11 | Thun | 43,723 | 46.75, 7.62 | Map |
| 12 | Bellinzona | 43,220 | 46.19, 9.02 | Map |
| 13 | Köniz | 41,784 | 46.92, 7.41 | Map |
| 14 | Fribourg | 38,365 | 46.80, 7.15 | Map |
| 15 | La Chaux-de-Fonds | 37,942 | 47.10, 6.83 | Map |
| 16 | Schaffhausen | 36,587 | 47.70, 8.63 | Map |
| 17 | Chur | 35,373 | 46.85, 9.53 | Map |
| 18 | Rapperswil | 34,776 | 47.23, 8.82 | Map |
| 19 | Uster | 34,715 | 47.35, 8.72 | Map |
| 20 | Sitten | 34,708 | 46.23, 7.36 | Map |
| 21 | Neuchâtel | 33,475 | 46.99, 6.93 | Map |
| 22 | Emmen | 30,926 | 47.08, 8.27 | Map |
| 23 | Zug | 30,542 | 47.17, 8.52 | Map |
| 24 | Yverdon-les-Bains | 30,157 | 46.78, 6.64 | Map |
| 25 | Vernier | 30,086 | 46.22, 6.08 | Map |
GeoNames populations come from several public sources and can refer to the city proper or the urban area; compare with the national statistics office before relying on a figure.
| Item ⇅ | Value ⇅ |
|---|---|
| Minimum wage system | No national statutory minimum wage; some cantons set their own. |
| Statutory minimum, EUR per month (Eurostat, euro-area/EU members) | no EUR figure (see system) |
| GDP per capita (current US$) | US$ 114,769 |
| GDP per capita, PPP | US$ 102,513 |
| GNI per capita, PPP | US$ 101,690 |
Wages by occupation, city and experience need this country's national statistics office dataset. They are on the roadmap, and we will publish them only with a clear scope label and source.
The minimum-wage line is an AtiveSite editorial summary of the system (verify with the labour authority linked in the Immigration and law tab). GDP per capita is not a wage.
Free movement: Citizens of the EU/EEA/EFTA area generally have rights to work here under free-movement rules, subject to registration requirements. Citizens of other countries normally need a permit.
| Official source ⇅ | Link ⇅ |
|---|---|
| Immigration / work permits (official) | www.sem.admin.ch/sem/en/home.html |
| National statistics office | www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home.html |
| Labour authority / employment law | www.seco.admin.ch/seco/en/home.html |
| Public employment / job portal | www.job-room.ch |
Challenges to expect: High living costs, competitive recruitment and immigration restrictions for many non-EU/EFTA applicants. Only links that answered on 06/11/2026 are listed; some official sites block automated checks and are therefore not shown.
| Industry to research ⇅ | Where to look ⇅ |
|---|---|
| Banking and financial services | Public job portal |
| Pharmaceuticals and biotechnology | Public job portal |
| Engineering | Public job portal |
| Information technology | Public job portal |
| Healthcare | Public job portal |
| Research and development | Public job portal |
This is a shortlist of industries worth researching, based on public reporting of the economy; it is not a ranking and not a count of vacancies. Regulated professions may require licensing, language tests and recognition of foreign qualifications.
We do not have a live vacancy feed for Switzerland yet. Its dossier is complete in every layer we can build from open official data, and the vacancy modules below plug into this same page when they go live.
| Module ⇅ | Status ⇅ | What it adds ⇅ | Open ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Live job board (official feeds, aggregated) | planned | Official public job feed, applications on the employer's or authority's site | – |
| AtiveSite vacancies (employers publish directly) | planned | Employer accounts, vacancy publishing, applications inside AtiveSite | – |
| Employer profiles (company X-ray) | planned | History, culture, benefits, the city they are in, verified data | – |
| Candidate profiles and CVs | planned | Private by default; companies see only what the candidate allows | – |
| Services and freelancers | planned | Independent professionals advertise services and receive proposals | – |
| Academy of Work (CV, documents, interviews, courses) | planned | Training, quizzes, interview simulator, document checklists, certificates of completion | – |
| AI matching and career adviser | planned | Explainable matching between professionals, employers and countries | – |
Compare this country with another
Norway is the model country: every layer below that is marked done for Norway will be repeated for Switzerland.
| Layer ⇅ | Status ⇅ | Source ⇅ |
|---|---|---|
| Global indicators (economy, quality of life) | done | World Bank |
| Largest cities and map | done | GeoNames |
| Minimum-wage system | done | editorial, verify |
| Official links (immigration, labour, statistics, jobs) | done | verified links |
| Wages by occupation | planned | national statistics office |
| Jobs by industry, city and county | planned | national statistics office |
| Commuting flows | planned | national statistics office |
| Largest companies | planned | company register / Wikidata |
| Job niches and live ads | planned | official job feed |
| Law and rights summary | planned | labour authority |
| Unions and collective agreements | planned | – |
| Cost of living and net-pay calculator | planned | tax authority + statistics office |