September 2022 / Switzerland

In a federal referendum held on 25 September 2022, Swiss voters approved the revision of the state pension (AHV 21). Key elements of the revision include:

• the unification of the official retirement age of 65 for men and women;
• an increase of the general VAT rate by 0.4% to 8.1%;
• an increase of the reduced VAT rate for daily goods and services by 0.1% to 2.6%; and
• an increase of the VAT rate for lodging services by 0.1% to 3.8%.

An increase in the VAT rates is required to stabilize the financing of the state pension until the year 2030. It is expected that the revision will enter into force on 1 January 2024.

30.09.2022 - Retail trade turnover adjusted for sales days and holidays grew by 5.4% in nominal terms in August 2022 compared with the same month of the previous year, with price increases driving this growth. Seasonally adjusted, nominal turnover rose by 1.5% compared with the previous month. These are provisional findings from the Federal Statistical Office (FSO).

Real turnover adjusted for sales days and holidays rose in the retail sector by 3.0% in August 2022 compared with the previous year. Real growth takes inflation into consideration. Compared with the previous month, real, seasonally adjusted retail trade turnover registered an increase of 1.2%.

Retail sector excluding service stations

Adjusted for sales days and holidays, the retail sector excluding service stations showed a 4.6% increase in nominal turnover in August 2022 compared with August 2021 (in real terms +2.6%). Retail sales of food, drinks and tobacco registered an increase in nominal turnover of 2.6% (in real terms +0.4%), whereas the non-food sector registered a nominal plus of 6.4% (in real terms +4.6%).

Excluding service stations, the retail sector showed a seasonally adjusted increase in nominal turnover of 1.6% compared with the previous month (in real terms +1.3%). Retail sales of food, drinks and tobacco registered a plus of 2.2% (in real terms +1.2%). The non-food sector showed a plus of 1.6% (in real terms +1.5%).

You can find further information in the following PDF document.

Swiss retail trade turnover rose in August 2022 by 5.4%

On 14 September 2022, the Swiss National Assembly (Nationalrat) approved the Switzerland – United Kingdom Social Security Coordination Agreement (2021). The agreement has been sent to the Council of States (Ständerat) for further approval.

The agreement applies provisionally from 1 November 2021 and will enter into force after all necessary domestic ratification procedures for the entry into force have been met in both contracting states. For more information on the provisional application, see article 73 of the Switzerland - United Kingdom Social Security Coordination Agreement (2021).

The new agreement coordinates the social security systems of the two states as the European Union - Switzerland Free Movement of Persons Agreement (1999) is no longer applicable in relations between Switzerland and the United Kingdom following Brexit. For previous reporting.