Standard of living remains high in Switzerland

Switzerland is one of the world’s most expensive countries to live in – with Geneva and Zurich frequently appearing as among the costliest cities in global comparison. But pound for pound (or franc for franc) Swiss citizens still enjoy a very high standard of living. If disposable income is the benchmark for living standards, then Switzerland is the third best placed country in Europe, according to the latest statistics. Only citizens of Luxembourg and Norway enjoy more disposable income once differences in prices and costs are stripped out. The number crunchers work this out by devising a fictional standardised unit of income, calculated by applying purchasing power parity to the median income in each country. “This means that despite the high price levels in Switzerland, the population's financial situation, after deduction of obligatory expenditure, was more comfortable than that of its neighbouring countries and most countries in the European ...