swiss-living-index

Swiss AHV/AVS old-age pension (1st pillar): the 13th AHV pension (first paid December 2026, one twelfth of the year's old-age pensions, automatic, old-age pensions only, not counted for supplementary benefits), minimum and maximum pension and couples cap for 2026 and 2027, reference age and AHV 21 transition supplements, early withdrawal reductions and deferral supplements, contribution rates, how to apply, and old-age pensions and average pension per canton. Every value carries its official source (BSV, ahv-iv.ch leaflets, AHVG/AHVV). Optional monthly_pension and months return the 13th pension amount.

Official Swiss asylum statistics of the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM, monthly, archived month by month): new asylum applications, completed cases, asylum grants, rejections, Dublin decisions, recognition and protection rates, applications and grants of protection status S, departures and removals, and the numbers of people in the asylum process (N, F, S), with the official SEM labels in German and French. month = YYYY-MM (default latest), indicator = key or words to filter, nationality = German country name as published by SEM for new applications by nationality (default: top 15 of the last 12 months), years = true for yearly figures since 2014.

Births and deaths in Switzerland or one canton (geo = CH or a 2-letter canton code): yearly births and deaths since 1969, the last 36 months, deaths per week for the last 104 weeks with the BFS expected value and 99% band (mortality monitoring; latest weeks provisional), the month with most deaths over the last ten years, and the page. Aggregate official statistics only (BFS BEVNAT, mortality monitoring); births and deaths per commune per year are in get_commune pages and the canton page table.

The members a Swiss canton sends to the Federal Parliament (its National Council seats and its one or two Council of States members), each with party, parliamentary group, seat number, year of birth and profile links; plus the delegation's count by group and by gender. Official source: Parliamentary Services, ws.parlament.ch (daily).

Cantonal parliaments that publish members and every individual vote as open data: Basel-Stadt (data.bs.ch, CC BY 4.0, 100 seats, votes since 2012), Bern (ogd.parl.apps.be.ch, 160 seats, votes since Nov 2022) and Thurgau (data.tg.ch, CC0, 130 seats, votes since Oct 2022), daily: the members with parliamentary group, party, constituency, seat, year of birth, occupation, employer, own homepage, committees, declared interests and voting record in the current legislature (participation, agreement with the own group); plus the latest 200 votes with totals per group. With name: matching members in full; without: the list and the statistics. No addresses.

Tax on a lump-sum withdrawal from the pension fund (2nd pillar) or pillar 3a in every Swiss commune, from the official ESTV tax calculator: CHF 100,000, 250,000, 500,000 or 1,000,000, single or married, payment at 65, federal + cantonal + communal tax without church tax. Give a commune (name, postcode or BFS number) for its tax, rate and rank, a canton for its lowest and highest communes, or nothing for the national lowest and highest. Lump sums in the same year are added together; pillar3a_tax calculates other amounts for one commune.

The cheapest basic health insurer (FOPH-approved premiums, next year) in every Swiss premium region, or for one canton, region (e.g. ZH-1) or commune: cheapest standard premium (adult 26+, free choice of doctor, CHF 300 deductible, with accident cover) and the lowest possible premium (any model, highest deductible), plus how often each insurer is the cheapest nationally.

Live income+wealth tax for a specific commune & household (official ESTV, year 2026). commune = name or postcode; income in CHF; married bool; children count; wealth in CHF.

Monthly commute cost between two Swiss places: by car at the official Swiss average fuel price (BFS) and by electric car at the home commune official electricity tariff (ElCom H4), plus the public-transport journey time (Swiss timetable). Distance defaults to straight line × 1.3 between the stations (labelled estimate) unless km_one_way is given. Public-transport fares are not open official data and are not included.

Compare 2–4 cantons across all metrics. cantons = array of abbreviations.

Every approved basic health-insurance premium (FOPH) for a commune or premium region: cheapest offers for an adult (26+), young adult (19–25) or child, by deductible, insurance model (standard, family doctor/HMO, telemedicine, other) and accident cover, with the insurer and product. year 2027 (next year) or 2026. Premiums depend on the commune of residence, so give commune (name or BFS number) or region (e.g. ZH-1).

How current the Swiss Living Index data is: every scheduled official data source with where it runs (cloud, a Mac on the Swiss network, or the A5000 language-model machine), its cadence in days, the last successful check, the next due date and a status (current, due, overdue = more than twice its cadence, new = not run yet), plus a summary. Use it to state how fresh a figure is before relying on it. Optional status filter.

Yearly dog tax per Swiss commune from official sources where a canton has a uniform rate or publishes every commune: Vaud (cantonal CHF 100 plus each commune's tax), Lucerne and Aargau (CHF 120 everywhere), Basel-Stadt (CHF 160 / 150 / 120, each further dog double), Basel-Landschaft (each commune), Geneva (cantonal CHF 50 plus the commune's surcharge plus CHF 5 fees). With commune (name or BFS number): that commune; without: all covered communes. Other cantons are not covered.

Swiss National Council elections from the Federal Statistical Office (open data): for the latest election (2023) party strength in per cent of the vote with the change since the previous election, seats, women elected and turnout for Switzerland, every canton and every commune (communes in the boundaries SLI uses; merged communes add up the votes of their former communes, recomputed exactly); plus party strength and seats since 1991 for Switzerland and the cantons. With commune (name or BFS number), canton (2-letter code) or neither (Switzerland). history=true adds the series since 1991. Parties are shown as published (CVP and BDP until 2019, Die Mitte from 2023).

Estimate the net yearly CHF impact of moving between two Swiss communes for a household: live commune-level tax (official ESTV 2026) plus canton-average rent and health-premium differences. Positive savings = the move saves money. The flagship relocation calculation as a tool.

Live availability of public EV charging points in Switzerland (official SFOE feed, minutes old): national and per-canton availability and fast chargers; with place (postcode or locality) or lat/lon also the nearest points within km with their live status. No prices (no official register exists).

Family reunification in Switzerland (AIG Art. 42 to 47, VZAE 73 to 73b): who can bring a spouse and children under 18, entitlement (Swiss citizens, C permit) or discretion (B, L), the conditions (living together, housing, no social assistance, language), the 5-year deadline (12 months for children over 12) and the language levels, each with its law article. sponsor = status of the person in Switzerland.

Results of every Swiss federal vote since 1981 (FSO open data; official titles in DE FR IT RM EN): without arguments the list of vote days with every proposal and its national result (yes %, turnout, cantons for and against, accepted); with date (YYYY-MM-DD) that day with the result of every canton; with date and commune (name or BFS number) or canton the result there; with commune alone that commune's results of the latest votes. Communes in today's boundaries (mapped by the FSO).

Forest fire danger and fire bans in Switzerland from FOEN open data (waldbrandgefahr.ch; credit «Source: FOEN»): for each of the 143 warning regions the danger level 1–5 and the canton's prevention measure 1–5 (no measures, warning, conditional ban, ban in and near the forest, absolute ban outdoors) with texts in DE FR IT EN and the date in force. With canton (2-letter code): that canton's regions and its highest danger and strictest measure; without: every canton summary. Bans issued by communes and fireworks rules (e.g. 1 August) are decided by cantons and communes and are not in this data.

Is the drive across the border worth it? Official station prices in France, Austria and Italy (live / daily official sources) near a Swiss place, ranked by net saving vs the official Swiss average price (BFS) after the fuel used for the round trip. place = postcode or locality (or lat/lon). Location is used for this lookup only.

Get all metric values for one canton. canton = 2-letter abbreviation (e.g. ZH, GE, TI). rank 1 = lowest value for cost metrics (dir 'low', e.g. taxes/rent) and highest value for capacity/benefit metrics (dir 'high', e.g. sunshine/jobs). Ranks describe order under the stated scenario, not universal suitability. Also returns the canton pages (DE FR IT EN), its flag, the cantonal government (members, departments, president) and chancellery contacts checked weekly against the official canton website, immigration and emigration by nationality (arrivals, departures, balance, trend), naturalisations by former nationality and world region with the rate per 1,000 foreign residents, and every commune of the canton with population, tax at CHF 100,000, Swiss rank and page. Includes highlights: protected AOP/IGP specialities of the area, UNESCO World Heritage, parks, cultural property of national importance and «Home of» brands (registered seat from the commercial register), plus traditional specialities of the canton. Also its official social media accounts (as linked from the canton's website; if none, the Federal Council's, see social_media.level).

Fact sheet for one Swiss commune (by name, BFS number or postcode); for communes with a one-pager also the president, council, administration contacts, departments, upcoming meetings, news, tenders and projects read from the commune website (with source and date): population, foreign residents, migration, jobs, new dwellings, gigabit and fibre coverage, public-transport accessibility, solar power, EV share, cars, cross-border commuters, commune finances, its canton context (tax, rent, premium ranks), live income tax for a reference profile (official ESTV), and the national fuel reference; its official social media accounts (as linked from the commune website; if none, the canton's, then the Federal Council's, see social_media.level). Includes highlights: protected AOP/IGP specialities of the area, UNESCO World Heritage, parks, cultural property of national importance and «Home of» brands (registered seat from the commercial register).

Read one Swiss Living Index dataset (id from list_datasets), exactly as published on the site (official values, unchanged). Filter with canton (2-letter) and/or commune (name or BFS number), section (a top-level key), from_year / to_year. Large datasets return a size summary first so you can narrow the request. Every reply carries source, source URL and the page to cite.

Official electricity tariff (ElCom) for a Swiss commune and its grid operator(s): total, energy, grid use, commune charges and federal levy in Rappen per kWh, for 2025–2027, and the yearly bill for a consumption profile (ElCom categories H1–H8, default H4 = 5-room flat, 4500 kWh) or your own kWh.

Swiss income-tax deductions for families (ESTV tax folder): maximum childcare (third-party care) deduction per child and the child deduction (Kinderabzug) rule for a canton, plus the federal values. canton = 2-letter abbreviation; omit for federal only.

Average monthly housing costs per household in Switzerland (BFS household budget survey HABE): net rent or mortgage interest, ancillary costs (Nebenkosten: flat-rate charges, water, waste water, waste, upkeep), energy (electricity, gas/fuels, heating), with BFS quality grades. Latest year for Switzerland; with canton also the values of its major region (pooled period). Means over all households incl. owners.

Statutory cantonal minimum wages in Switzerland (official cantonal pages): hourly amount, valid from, history and the monthly equivalent at 40 hours. Only five cantons have one (BS, GE, JU, NE, TI); without canton the list of all five is returned. Elsewhere minimums apply only through collective or standard employment contracts.

Official Swiss social-security payroll deductions for the current year (AHV/IV/EO, unemployment insurance ALV with ceiling, occupational pension BVG coordinated salary and age credits), as used for a gross-to-net salary estimate.

Health-insurance premium subsidies (Prämienverbilligung / réduction des primes) per canton (FOPH KVSTAT): share of insured receiving a subsidy, average CHF per beneficiary and per household, subsidy as % of the mean premium, federal vs cantonal funding, plus the responsible cantonal office (name, address, phone, website). canton = 2-letter abbreviation.

Swiss mortgage reference interest rate for rents (BWO/FOH): current rate, valid since, next publication dates, every change since 2008, and the rule for rent adjustments (VMWG Art. 13). Optional lease_rate (the rate in the lease) returns the quarter-point steps since then. Also returns the latest BFS rent price index (quarterly change, annual change, share of rents up/down/unchanged).

Official gross monthly salaries in Switzerland (BFS Swiss Earnings Structure Survey LSE): median and P10/P25/P75/P90 for all employees, women and men, by major region and economic sector. canton (2-letter) is mapped to its BFS major region, because the FSO publishes salaries by major region only; sector = NOGA division code (e.g. 62) or a word (e.g. "IT", "banking", "construction"); year = survey year (default latest). CHF per month, gross, standardised to full time.

The country level of the hierarchy Switzerland → 26 cantons → communes: population and foreign share (BFS STATPOP), naturalisations per year 2011 onwards with ordinary vs facilitated and the most common former nationalities (official BFS country names in DE FR IT EN), every canton with population, foreign share, tax rank, naturalisations per 1,000 foreign residents and its page and data file, and the index of all commune pages. Use get_canton and get_commune to go down a level. Also the Federal Council (members, departments, President of the Confederation, Federal Chancellor; verified on admin.ch, dated) and the key national figures of the Switzerland page: vital statistics, permits, unemployment, jobs, wages, rents, vacancy, reference rate, health premiums, hospitals, AHV 2027, pillar 3a 2027, public finances of all levels, mobility and energy, crime, sunshine; each with year and source.

Historical year-series for a metric in one canton (e.g. sunshine back to 1884, migration to 1981, rent to 2010). metric = key from list_metrics with history: rent_mean, net_migration_per_1000, foreigner_pct, sunshine_hours, balance_per_capita, beds_per_1000, jobs, unemployment_pct (SECO yearly averages to 1993). Optional from_year.

Which health insurance deductible (franchise) pays off: for a commune or premium region, age group, model and expected yearly health costs, the yearly premiums plus cost sharing (deductible + 10 % up to CHF 700, children CHF 350, KVG) for every deductible, the cheapest choice and the break-even between the lowest and highest deductible. Hospital contribution and the 40 % share on some medicines are not included.

How much Swiss health insurance premiums rise next year: the FOPH official mean premium (all models and deductibles, as people chose them) for Switzerland and per canton, for adults, young adults (19–25) and children, previous year vs next year in CHF and %; plus the median change of each insurer's standard premium on the same tariff. canton and insurer are optional filters.

What Swiss households spend per month (BFS household budget survey, official): income, social insurance, taxes, health premiums, food, restaurants, housing and energy, transport, leisure and more, for all households, singles, couples without children, families and retired couples.

Official answers to «How many … are there in Switzerland?» (the questions that reach Google Switzerland's top 10 every year): cantons, communes and districts (BFS commune register, per canton), permanent residents and foreign nationals (BFS STATPOP), Swiss abroad, cows, dairy cows and cattle (BFS farm structure survey), museums and visits, hydropower plants of at least 300 kW (BFE), hospitals and beds, main languages, taxpayers with net wealth over CHF 1 million (ESTV), foreign enclaves, the geographic centre, and protected AOP cheeses (no official count of cheese varieties exists). Each answer has its date and federal source. With topic: only that answer.

Why foreign nationals move to Switzerland: immigration into the permanent foreign resident population (permits B, C and L of 12 months or more) by reason (employment within / outside quotas, family reunification, education and training, residence without employment, recognised refugees, hardship case and residence status after an asylum procedure, other), per year since 2008, for Switzerland, EU/EFTA vs third countries, the 26 cantons (canton of residence) and about 180 nationalities. Official source: State Secretariat for Migration SEM, foreigner statistics table 3-30 (ZEMIS). SEM totals differ slightly from the FSO (STATPOP) migration figures by design. Asylum seekers are not included (see asylum_statistics).

Abolition of the imputed rental value (Eigenmietwert, valeur locative) on owner-occupied homes in Switzerland: in force 1 January 2029 (Federal Council decision of 1 April 2026); timeline from the 2017 parliamentary initiative to entry into force, the changes for owners as the federal administration states them (maintenance and debt interest deductions, first-time buyer deduction, cantonal tax on second homes), and the official result of the linked vote of 28 September 2025 (FSO VoteInfo: Switzerland, every canton; with commune: that commune), the status of each canton on the optional tax on second homes and on implementing the reform (official cantonal sources, re-checked weekly), and how each canton sets the imputed rental value until the end of 2028 (ESTV). Information only, not tax advice.

Leaving Switzerland: the official steps with their law articles: deregister with the commune at the latest 14 days before departure (VZAE 15), what happens to an L, B or C permit (AIG 61), keeping a C permit for up to 4 years on request (VZAE 79), residence for naturalisation counted as given up (BüG 33), early pillar 3a withdrawal on leaving for good (BVV 3 Art. 3), pension fund cash payout and its EU/EFTA limit (FZG 5, 25f), vested benefits (FZG 4), AHV pensions abroad, refund of AHV contributions and voluntary AHV (AHVG 2, 18, RV-AHV), withholding tax on payouts abroad (DBG 96), plus the number of people who moved abroad (BFS).

Catalogue of EVERY dataset published by the Swiss Living Index (about 125: migration, births and first names, crime, public finances, cross-border commuters, vehicles, broadband, sustainability, naturalisations, permits, health care, housing, income, education and more), each with source, geography (Switzerland / canton / commune), years and page. Without arguments it returns the topics; with topic or query it returns the matching datasets. Then read one with get_dataset.

List available metrics for the 26 Swiss cantons (key, label, unit, source, what higher/lower means).

Swiss National Bank policy rate (current, since when, every change since June 2019), SARON, and the average interest rates Swiss banks publish for new mortgages at month end (SNB data portal): variable, fixed 2 / 5 / 10 years, SARON 3 years, with 0.25 quantile, median and 0.75 quantile across banks, monthly series since 2007; plus savings and pillar 3a rates. For rents the BWO reference rate applies (get_reference_rate). Information only, not financial advice.

Cantonal conditions for ordinary Swiss naturalisation in each of the 26 cantons, on top of the federal rules (C permit, 10 years): minimum residence in the canton and the commune (2 to 5 years), language level spoken / written (federal minimum B1 / A2; 8 cantons require more), knowledge test (cantonal written test, commune test or interview), cantonal fee for one adult, the responsible office and the cantonal law with its version in force. Every value carries a verbatim quote from the official cantonal law collection or office page. canton optional (omit for all 26). Information, not legal advice.

Checks the federal residence conditions for ordinary Swiss naturalisation (BüG Art. 9, 33) or facilitated naturalisation of a Swiss citizen's spouse (BüG Art. 21) from the years someone has lived in Switzerland: years between ages 8 and 18 count double (at least 6 actual years), temporary admission (F) counts half, C permit required. Returns which conditions are met with the law articles, and what is missing. Cantons add 2 to 5 years of residence in the canton (BüG 18). Orientation only, not legal advice.

Parliament next to the people: for every National Council final vote of the current legislature whose bill later went to a popular vote, the chamber's result (yes, no, abstain, by group) next to the national popular result (yes %, accepted). Matched only on the exact title (the initiative title in «…», or the act title without «vom <date>»); unmatched items are left out rather than guessed. For an initiative a yes in the chamber is a yes to the federal decree with its recommendation, not to the initiative. Commune and canton results: federal_votes with the date.

The path of a Swiss parliamentary item (Geschäft) that reached a National Council final vote in the current legislature: title, type, responsible department, submission date, topics, the dated status history (submitted, in committee, planned, final vote, done), the debate days in each chamber with number of speeches and speaking time and the link to the Official Bulletin, the final vote result and, where it went to the people, the popular vote. Find it by business number (e.g. 26.033) or by words of the title.

Members of the Swiss Federal Parliament (National Council 200, Council of States 46) from the Parliamentary Services' open data web service ws.parlament.ch, refreshed daily: council, canton, party, parliamentary group and function, seat number, career in both chambers since joining, year and place of birth as published (never the full date), occupations with employer, mandates, committees and delegations with function, declared interests (Art. 11 Parliament Act: organisation, legal form, body, function, paid or unpaid), the official e-mail address and own website shown on the parlament.ch profile, and social media accounts the member links from their own website (only accounts whose handle carries the member's name). With name (or part of it) or id: matching members in full; with canton, council (NR or SR) or party (abbreviation) only: the matching list. Neutral facts only: no ratings.

Sessions of the Swiss Parliament in the current legislature (Parliamentary Services, ws.parlament.ch): dates, sittings of each chamber, number of speeches, speaking time in total and by parliamentary group per chamber (Federal Council separately), the items debated longest, and the final votes of the session. Without session: the list of sessions. Speaking time = end minus start of each speech in the Official Bulletin, without remarks from the chair.

Votes of the Swiss National Council since 2007 (legislatures 48–52; Parliamentary Services, ws.parlament.ch; current legislature daily): every electronic vote with business number and title, bill, subject, what yes and no meant, time, totals (yes, no, abstain, excused, did not vote, presiding) and totals per parliamentary group. Without arguments: the final votes (Schlussabstimmungen) with result. With query (words of the title) or business (e.g. 26.033): matching votes. With id: that vote in full incl. how every member voted and the totals per canton. With member (name): add that member's decision to each listed vote. The Council of States' individual votes are not in the data service. For a popular initiative the final vote is on the federal decree carrying the recommendation, not on the initiative itself.