Switzerland

14-March-2024

English

Boosting productivity and increasing labour market participation would sustain Switzerland’s high living standards

Switzerland has shown remarkable strength during the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent turmoil in energy markets following Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. With a dynamic economy, a highly skilled workforce and prudent macroeconomic policies, unemployment and inflation are low, and living standards are among the highest in the OECD.

4-July-2022

English

Fostering a strong labour market to support the recovery and sustain growth in Switzerland

Switzerland has a well-functioning labour market with low unemployment, a highly skilled workforce and well-paid jobs. It has proved resilient during the COVID-19 crisis, helped by extensive government support to employment and incomes. As activity recovers, the authorities face the challenge of adapting support measures to avoid hindering job reallocation and productivity growth while ensuring adequate support to vulnerable firms and workers. The pandemic has also reinforced certain pre-existing challenges. The already sizeable gender pay gap risks widening, and older workers face a higher risk of long-term unemployment. Making the labour market more inclusive would help the recovery and raise productivity. Switzerland would benefit from bringing under-represented groups more effectively into the labour market. Raising skills and lowering inequities in education and training will also be essential to facilitate job transitions and ensure that workers and firms benefit from technological change and the digital transformation.

20-January-2022

English

Switzerland: reviving productivity growth and improving labour market participation key for sustained recovery from COVID-19, says OECD

Switzerland has proven very resilient to the COVID-19 crisis thanks to a diversified economy with relatively low reliance on hospitality and entertainment and with significant fiscal space to support households and firms.

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Für einen nachhaltigen Aufschwung sollte die Schweiz das Produktivitätswachstum beleben und die Arbeitsmarktbeteiligung verbessern

17-November-2020

English

The impact of COVID-19 on SME financing - A special edition of the OECD Financing SMEs and Entrepreneurs Scoreboard

The COVID-19 crisis has had a profound impact on SME access to finance. In particular, the sudden drop in revenues created acute liquidity shortages, threatening the survival of many viable businesses. The report documents an increase in demand for bank lending in the first half of 2020, and a steady supply of credit thanks to government interventions. On the other hand, other sources of finance declined, in particular early-stage equity. This paper, a special edition of Financing SMEs and Entrepreneurs, focuses on the impacts of COVID-19 on SME access to finance, along with government policy responses. It reveals that the pre-crisis financing environment was broadly favourable for SMEs and entrepreneurs, who benefited from low interest rates, loose credit standards and an increasingly diverse offer of financing instruments. It documents the unprecedented scope and scale of the policy responses undertaken by governments world-wide, and details their key characteristics, and outlines the principal issues and policy challenges for the next phases of the pandemic, such as the over-indebtedness of SMEs and the need to continue to foster a diverse range of financing instruments for SMEs.

14-April-2020

English

Synthesising good practices in fiscal federalism - Key recommendations from 15 years of country surveys

The design of intergovernmental fiscal relations can help to ensure that tax and spending powers are assigned in a way to promote sustainable and inclusive economic growth. Decentralisation can enable sub-central governments to provide better public services for households and firms, while it can also make intergovernmental frameworks more complex, harming equity. The challenges of fiscal federalism are multi-faceted and involve difficult trade-offs. This synthesis paper consolidates much of the OECD’s work on fiscal federalism over the past 15 years, with a particular focus on OECD Economic Surveys. The paper identifies a range of good practices on the design of country policies and institutions related strengthening fiscal capacity delineating responsibilities across evels of government and improving intergovernmental co-ordination.

8-January-2018

English

Switzerland’s productivity puzzle: Being a leader and an underperformer

Switzerland is among the leaders in many global rankings including on R&D, innovation, infrastructure, universities and competitiveness. It is well integrated in global value chains, specialised in some high-value-added activities and home of many large multinationals. These factors should contribute to high, and rising, labour productivity.

12-December-2017

English

Boosting productivity in Switzerland

Swiss GDP per capita stands amongst the top OECD performers. However, to face medium-term challenges productivity developments will be key to allow the country to maintain its enviable position.

12-December-2017

English

Ensuring a dynamic skills-training and life-long learning system in Switzerland

Switzerland makes more use of its human resources than most other OECD countries. Labour force participation is high and the unemployment rate low for most segments of society.

14-November-2017

English

Maintaining Switzerland’s enviable living standards into the future

Switzerland’s high living standards and quality of life are renowned. It has the third-highest level of GDP per capita in the OECD. Likewise, survey data show Swiss have the OECD’s second-highest rate of life satisfaction. Unemployment is low, including for young people. And income inequality (after taxes and transfers) is around the OECD average.

19-February-2016

English

Raising public spending efficiency in Switzerland

Despite having low government spending, Switzerland scores highly in various public policy outcomes, including health, education and transportation. But, as the population grows and ages, efficiency of public spending will have to rise to maintain low tax rates.

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