Cost of living in Switzerland – 2015

The most important change of 2015 is the exchange rate of the Swiss franc (CHF). For the last 3.5 years, the Swiss national bank has supported a fixed exchange rate of 1 Euro to 1.20 CHF. The bank stopped this support January 15, 2015 and this lead to a strengthening of the CHF to most other currencies. At the moment, 1 Euro will give you about 1 CHF.
This makes Switzerland even more expensive to foreigners than it already was, and may have serious impact on tourism and export-oriented industries. For people living in Switzerland, shopping over the border, e.g. in Germany, is more attractive than ever and price differences make it "pay off" to drive 100 km one way to shop your weekly groceries in Germany instead of next door in Switzerland.
Contrary to 2011, however, it seems that Swiss retailers are recalculating their prices, passing the exchange rate advantage on to their customers. This leads to lower prices (in CHF) in Swiss shops. Leading grocery stores like Migros and COOP have lowered lots of their prices considerably (up to 15-20%) during the last ten days.

The public transportation last year was of 3.50 CHF for one hour ride (standard rate) now it was reduced to 3.00 CHF what is a lot. I think Switzerland is still very expensive but if you work here and live here the quality of public services, life, and living is higher than many countries in the world. You pay expensive but you have a high standard of living in general.

Living in Veyrier, Geneva
> accommodation prices: a 100m2 3 bedroom flet with a tiny terrace and 2 parking spots will set you back CHF 3000/month

> food prices: 750-1000 CHF for a family of 3

> health prices: 600 CHF with a franchise of 2500CHF (for kids this is inexpensive)

> energy prices (oil, electricity): I pay about 100 CHF every other month for electricity... think this is inexpensive

> common bills (Internet, television, telephone, mobile phone): tv & internet is ridiculous, 114 CHF/month; I remember paying 30EUR/month in France for similar internet service and many more tv chains and radio stations

> price for a good menu in a traditional restaurant: 120-150 CHF if you want to have some wine

Hello everyone,

Thank you for all this information.

Shaazia
Expat.com Team