Why is geneva so expensive

One way of paying less for accommodation is to live outside the centre of Geneva. Other ways of s aving money in Geneva include choosing carefully when and where to shop, taking advantage of discounts, special offers, loyalty programmes, especially with regard to public transport , and seasonal sales. His experience of the daily challenges faced by relocation consultants flows directly into the training courses designed and led by the Packimpex Academy.

Discounts and saving money in Geneva. Shopping in Geneva. Swiss Culture. Shopping in Lausanne. Cost Of Living in Geneva. Shopping in Zurich. Hello Switzerland fills a huge gap for those who are keen to integrate but find it difficult due to the language barrier. Contact Us. Hello Switzerland Relocation Guides Guides. Although salaries are high and taxes low, Switzerland is one of the most expensive places to live in the world.

Read more to find out where your money will go and where you can save. Cost of living in Switzerland? Book a Guidance Call Get expert knowledge and solutions to answer all questions related to researching, relocating and residing in Switzerland. Average monthly expenses in Switzerland Although salaries are higher and taxes lower than the European average, a large portion of gross income goes towards obligatory health insurance and other deductions.

We are looking for research on this. When we find it we will write a piece on it. Many thanks for your comment. What on earth is meant by this? In many countries there is a form of hidden social security charges.

In Switzerland this hidden charge is low. In France for example it is high. Taking some approximate numbers the real rates are different and vary by region it works like this:. If a Swiss employer pays someone a salary of 4, per month it will cost them 4, And the employee will get paid 3, before tax.

The difference is social security charges or AVS. What is effectively happening here is the employee is getting paid 4, but only receiving 3, In France for example, the difference between the cost to employer and take-home pay is much higher.

So if an employer paid out 4, the employee would only get only 2, So the Swiss worker gets 3, and the French one only 2, From an employee perspective French employers look stingy and Swiss employers generous, when they are both paying out the same amount i.

The OECD considers these payments to be taxation. Switzerland is under the OECD average. This OECD report presents a more complete view. The last bars on the bar chart, labelled Employer SSC, are the amounts that are not visible to employees. Please not that this example is simplified and approximated. The actual rates in France are different and vary based on a list of factors. There are also numerous other staff related costs to consider and compare. We are contacting experts to gather further information on the subject.

There appear to be a number of reasons. As mentioned in the article, some products like beef are expensive because of high import duties. A lack of retail competition appears to be another reason — this is harder to demonstrate though. In addition, some retailers seem to be getting high prices forced on them by wholesalers or the brand owner i. What we liked about the consumer analysis referenced in this article was the way it cleared up some of the misconceptions.

When we have more information we will write a follow up piece. That some retailers seem to be getting squeezed by wholesalers and country specific pricing is of particular interest to us.

Every two years, UBS publishes a survey oncost of living world wide. Zurich always has been one of the top-ranking, if not the most expensive city to live, in all the recent surveys. So, comparisions do exist. Food is just one aspect, the same is true probably for all goods and services in this country.

And beware, although highly productive, this productivity is in part due to much longer working hours in many branches, which by no means are in accordance with European laws. If you look at the prices charged net of VAT, in other words take out what the government gets, the price difference is much much higher again.

The difference is going to the shareholders of the Swiss chains…and in use for lobbying the government to keep out competition and stay out of the EU so that competition cannot come in.

Hardly one of the most competitive economies, as they like to claim to be. How are electronics cheaper in Switzerland? Swiss retailers simply take advantage of their customers because the customers buy the products regardless. We go to Germany once a months for some shopping and having a pizza Its 30min from Winterthur.

The savings are actually pretty heavy. By subscribing you are agreeing to our Privacy Policy. Previous Newsletters. By subscribing you agree to our Privacy Policy. Share this:.

Related posts. Our statistical office monitors the prices of consumer and capital items and can then provide the Swiss basic data. The EU statistical office coordinates these price surveys, does the calculations and publishes the results of the whole statistical survey. It compares GDP, adjusted for per capita purchasing power, and price levels in the participating countries.

The exchange rate is often forgotten about, too: how much of the foreign currency will I get for my Swiss francs at a particular point in time? For example, jeans are subject to precise criteria. Then again, the difficulty may be finding this pair of jeans everywhere.

Jeans might be a typical consumer item for Belgian women, but in Greece hardly anyone buys them. So it needs to be specified whether a given product corresponds to the usual patterns of consumption in a given country or not. Typical goods have a higher value for the statistician than niche products. And there are other problems that come up in a worldwide comparison: not all countries want to participate or are even able to participate — countries in a crisis like Syria or Lebanon.

The next survey in put Switzerland right at the top, with a price level that amounted to more than double the world average. In Switzerland was no longer the most expensive country — it was Bermuda.

That can change quickly, of course, and has a lot to do with currency exchange rates. If our franc gets stronger, Switzerland is more expensive and our price level goes up. That has to do with competition as well as with imported goods, which in Switzerland, compared with Europe, tend to become cheaper.

Zurich and Geneva are in the top ten of the world's most expensive cities with Zurich, Paris and Hong Kong on top of the list. This content was published on Jul 29, Jul 29, Following reader suggestions, we find out if most people calling Switzerland home can afford diamond rings and fur coats or are just making ends meet.