Insurance was 8.4% in 2009, but cost has risen for past 2 years
Sausage, roesti and great local wine in St Gallen in late October: the Swiss spent CHF460 a month on average of their household budget dining out in 2009, but this includes work canteens and cafeterias as well as restaurants
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Average disposable household income in Switzerland in 2009 was CHF6,650 a month, with 13 percent of that, CHF1,185, going for food, beverages and restaurants. Housing and energy together made up the largest household budget item, CHF1,495 a month.
Transport used up 7.7 percent of the budgets and entertainment 6.7 percent. Clothing: 2.4 percent.
Households were left with, on average, savings of CHF1,160 after all expenses were deducted.
Taxes consumed on average CHF1,125 a month, some 12 percent, or less than what a household spent on food and beverages.
But taxes are only one part of Swiss mandatory expenses, which also include social security payments:
- 10 percent of disposable income that includes AVS and company pension plans (the Swiss first and second pillars)
- the mandatory part of the health insurance system (5 percent)
- and money sent to other households, for example as part of a divorce settlement (2 percent).
These mandatory expenses together with taxes account for 29 percent of household budgets, some CHF2,720 a month.
In addition, the Swiss in 2009 spent 3.4 percent on health insurance not covered by the basic, obligatory plans.
The figures were published by the Swiss Statistical Office Tuesday 15 November.
The office notes three important points: 58 percent of all households had lower revenue than the average, 39 percent had at least two people contributing to the revenue, and revenue here includes salaries but also social security income, pension payouts, interest payments, dividends, income from fortunes and money from other households (notably divorce settlements).
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Swiss consumers found their pocketbooks thinner in 2009, thanks to an 8.1 percent overall average health insurance premium increase. The hike resulted in a 0.6 percent fall in disposable income, according to the Federal Statistical Office in Neuchatel. The amount of disposable income is calculated by taking all income and deducting “transfers”: taxes, social security payments and other insurance. Revenues take into account salaries, interest payments, pensions, reimbursements and reducations in insurance premiums, as well as other income.
Obligatory health insurance premiums rose 8.7 percent but the overall rise was brought down slightly by increases for complementary health insurance, which ranged from 5.4 to 7.1 percent depending on the type of hospital room selected (group, semi-private, private).
Disposable income rose only slightly from 2009 to 2010, with an average of CHF3,791 a month, up from CHF3,768 in 2009.
Insurance premiums for 2011 will rise by 6.5 percent on average.
Bern / Neuchatel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Switzerland is facing a shortage of nurses, and higher health insurance premiums in 2008 reduced households’ disposable income, say two reports just out, that look at aspects of the health care system.
Too few nurses, even with foreigners
Switzerland is facing a health care professionals shortfall, says the Swiss Conference of Cantonal Health Directors (CDS). Two-thirds of the health care professionals the country needs are being trained in Switzerland, with foreign-trained professionals making up what should be the difference. But only about one-half of the nurses needed are available. An important reason for this is that too many health care professionals choose to drop out or take extended leaves, according to CDS in a report released 11 December.
