These events moved Switzerland in 2023
58% of the Swiss population describe the past year 2023 as rather good to very good. For most people, the main events in 2023 include rising health insurance premiums, the Middle East war and inflation. These are the findings of a representative survey conducted by the market research institutes Link and Yougov.
A majority of Swiss people say they had a fairly or very good past year (58%). At the same time, 39% of them say that 2023 was rather or very bad for them.
The survey also asked about the events of the year. Here, the increase in health insurance premiums for the year 2024, which has now begun, came out on top with 43%. The Middle East war that started in October (42%) as well as inflation and the associated increase in the cost of living (42%) were also strong topics among the population. At 39%, the war in Ukraine also continues to be a topic that is of great concern to the Swiss.
Political topics less prominent than Credit Suisse and AI
It should come as no surprise that the takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS was also a memorable event of the past year for many people (33%). In addition, 2023 was a year in which artificial intelligence technologies became firmly established in society - and for 20 percent of respondents, their advance into everyday use was one of the main topics of the past year.
By contrast, the federal parliamentary elections on October 22, 2023 and the associated shift to the right in the Swiss parliament was only a major event for 11%. Apart from this, domestic political issues were obviously less important for many: Both the adoption of the Covid-19 Act and the adoption of the Climate and Innovation Act on June 18, 2023 were among the events of the year for only 7% of respondents in each case.
Reference interest rate and energy crisis perceived more strongly than entertainment events
In addition to the increase in health insurance premiums and inflation, other events that put a strain on the financial budget were also more memorable - the double increase in the mortgage reference interest rate was among the events of the year for 18% and the ongoing energy crisis for 14%.
At the lower end of the scale are many events from the entertainment industry, such as the release of the films "Barbie" (4 percent) and "Oppenheimer" (4 percent), the last "Wetten, dass...?" moderation by Thomas Gottschalk (3 percent) or the Eurovision Song Contest in Liverpool (2 percent).
For the Survey by Link and Yougov, 1,014 people in Switzerland were surveyed between December 13 and 18, 2023 on the basis of Yougov Surveys. The results are weighted and representative of the Swiss population aged 18 and over.
