Salaries & living costs have changed very little in 20 years. Costs here seem high, however that's due to exchange rate. When 1USD bought 1.80 CHF or £1 bought 2.6 CHF salaries here were not high, food did not seem expensive either.

Edited as exchange rates the wrong way round as pointed out by danny

I guess you meant when 1£ =2.6 CHF ?

Yes sorry when £1 = 2.6 CHF & 1 USD = 1.8 CHF

The strengthening of the CHF has made things appear very expensive in Switzerland (something I repeat ad nauseum). The truth lies somewhere in between. Goods are more expensive - but not as "rip off" as people initially think.

People arriving now will feel it more than those who have been here >5 years.

Point is, salaries didnt really change much at the same rate as forex rates, nor at the cost of living.


Most companies offer 'competitive' salaries, based on a consultation of what everyone else is paying. No company wants to pay any more then their competition, and no employee wants to earn any less then their colleagues in other companies.

If salaries go up, its usually because one company is paying higher (to obtain an advantage over another company) and so other companies have to match it. Thats one reason that salaries have stagnated in the recession; companies are scrimping and scrounging for that last penny, so no one is offering above market rate. Consequently, no other company is left disadvantaged, so no one else raises salaries either.

Consider that in the economic downturn, the cost of living has not gone down (in fact, since the cost of borrowing has gone up, one could argue the cost of living has gone up too), but the real value of salaries (taking into account inflation) has either stagnated or dipped. Ergo, there is a mismatch between living cost and salary.

I have seen interest rates fall, rather than rise, not sure what your saying.

Forex makes no difference - that only applies to items purchased outside the country. Only when comparing to externally bought products does it seem expensive.

2 years ago I did a comparison between Slovakia and Switzerland - comparing average salaries and average beer cost. The ratio was the same for both countries. The cost of petrol was the same as Switzerland though. Not ratio. The same price!!

Anyone on a Swiss employment contract - for the last 10 years - will not have noticed a vast increase in prices.

I can say this...since being here the price of gas has been almost exactly the same for the past 6 years. Going up 5% or down the same. Try that in the USA. Gas in France, even with them cutting the gas tax, is still about 20 centimes more then it was 6 years ago, and back then speculation on barrels was driving the increases.

When I buy most fruits and vegetables, it is the exact same or less money here in CH. So far the price of the toll has remained the exact same, where I have seen it risen in other countries.

The problem I have is when I know the price in Europe is 1 euro for something and in Switzerland, I would pay 7 CHF.

I don't care if I do better money, I still think it is a rip off.

That says more about you then it does about the price.

Petrol is about the only thing that has significantly increased in price since I arrived in 1994. 1.07 a litre back then.

Wow! You can figure me based on that? You are a genius.

Any business in Switzerland buying materials abroad will, with everything else being equal, buy from the cheapest source possible.

Why shouldn't consumers do the same?

I don't understand why this is a difficult concept for some people to understand?

It's not, we do. We just come here afterwards to inform others

Galaxy S3 flip-cover, 7eur on ebay, was willing to pay up to 20chf for it (like, double the price) in a swiss store, they start at 39.90chf.

3m ethernet cable, cat6, 3eur on ebay, willing to pay up to 10chf for it in a swiss store, they start at 19.90chf (for 2m of cat5e)

You obviously have no clue how Swiss retail works.

I thought hibernation usually went ona bit longer?

looking for a wireless adapter, minimum price is double that of amazon.de (including shipping) max i found was 4x the cost ....absurd

So, how does it work then?

Check on toppreise.ch - however, if an item is not really retailed here then sky is the limit in specialty stores.
Or, from Germany, use a forwarding service who will do it for CHF 15:
https://meineinkauf.ch/preise/