Switzerland has become the 58th country to sign the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters during a ceremony at the OECD.

These country notes contain indicators which compare the political and institutional frameworks of national governments as well as revenues and expenditures, employment, and compensation. They include a description of government policies on integrity, e-government and open government.

Income-poverty rates are high among the over-65s in Switzerland. The effective age of labour market exit is high in Switzerland in international comparison...

The secretary-General attended the World Economic Forum 2014 Davos where he delivered remarks in different sessions and held bilateral meetings with officials from several countries attending the Forum.

Switzerland provided USD 3 billion in official development assistance (ODA) in 2012, or 0.45% of its gross national income (GNI), in line with its goal to reach 0.5% of GNI by 2015.

This note presents key findings for Switzerland from Society at a Glance 2014 - OECD Social indicators. This 2014 publication also provides a special chapter on: the crisis and its aftermath: a “stress test” for societies and for social policies.

The migration of women is a growing phenomenon in most countries. About half of all international migrants are women, according to OECD data. Over the years, the body of knowledge on the participation of highly skilled women to migration flows has increased but despite this growing knowledge, there is low visibility of research findings for policy makers and multilateral organizations.

Obesity rates are low in Switzerland, relative to most OECD countries. 9% of adults are obese in Switzerland, while nearly 38% are overweight (including obesity).

Biographical note of Switzerland's Permanent Representative to the OECD.

Country notes with main key findings of the book and key fact tables: a customised snapshot of a country's educational environment, highlighting the most important issues in the educational landscape.

According to a new OECD report, variations in health care use across the cantons in Switzerland need to be consider the potential of over- and underuse of health services and raise questions about the efficiency and equity of health care services delivered in Switzerland.

This publication highlights new evidence on policies to support job creation, bringing together the latest research on labour market, entrepreneurship and local economic development policy to help governments support job creation in the recovery. It also includes a set of country pages featuring, among other things, new data on skills supply and demand at the level of smaller OECD regions (TL3).

Switzerland has today become the 52nd jurisdiction to sign the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement, which will allow it to go forward with plans to activate automatic exchange of financial account information in tax matters with other countries beginning in 2018.

The tax burden in Switzerland increased by 0.2 percentage points from 26.9% to 27.1% in 2013. The OECD average was an increase of 0.4 percentage points from 33.7% to 34.1%. The Swiss standard VAT rate is 8%, which is one of the lowest standard VAT rates in the OECD and considerably below the OECD average. The average VAT/GST standard rate in the OECD was 19.1% on 1 January 2014

Mr. Angel Gurría, Secretary-General of the OECD, was in Davos to attend the World Economic Forum 2015.

The Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes published today 9 new peer review reports, including a Phase 1 Supplementary Report for Switzerland, demonstrating continuing progress toward implementation of the international standard for exchange of information on request.

Switzerland should reduce trade barriers and limit the level of direct payments to farmers, as part of wider efforts to improve competitiveness of the agriculture sector, according to a new OECD report.

Water resources allocation determines who is able to use water resources, how, when and where. Capturing information from 27 OECD countries and key partner economies, the report presents key findings from the OECD Survey of Water Resources Allocation and case studies of successful allocation reform.

Specific country notes have been prepared using data from the database OECD Health Statistics 2015, July 2015 version. The notes are available in PDF format.

Die Gesundheitsausgaben in der Schweiz sind hoch und der Ausgabenanstieg hat sich in den letzten Jahren beschleunigt. Der Marktanteil von Generika in der Schweiz ist relativ gering; die verstärkte Förderung bei Verschreibung und Abgabe von Generika könnte den Anstieg bei den Arzneimittelausgaben verlangsamen.

The 2015 edition introduces more detailed analysis of participation in early childhood and tertiary levels of education. The report also examines first generation tertiary-educated adults’ educational and social mobility, labour market outcomes for recent graduates, and participation in employer-sponsored formal and/or non-formal education.

The Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes (the Global Forum) published today 10 new peer review reports demonstrating continuing progress toward implementation of the international standard for exchange of information on request.

Education at a Glance 2016 - Country Notes

Switzerland enjoys the joint second highest life expectancy at birth among OECD countries, achieved through a generously funded health system. Smoking and alcohol rates are slightly above the OECD average, but obesity rates are very low, with rates among adults only lower in Japan and Korea. While mandatory insurance is in place, high out-of-pocket spending impedes access to care.

The OECD’s third Environmental Performance Review of Switzerland finds that despite being one of the greenest OECD countries in terms of energy supply, greenhouse gas emissions and domestic material consumption per unit of GDP, Switzerland urgently needs to address pressures on its biodiversity.

Key findings for Switzerland from the report "Pensions at a Glance 2017"

The OECD Working Group on Bribery has just completed a review of Switzerland's enforcement of the Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions and related instruments. The Working Group welcomes the significant level of enforcement by the Federal Office of the Attorney General. Switzerland has cracked down on the bribery of foreign public officials in recent years.

This note presents marginal effective tax rates (METRs) that summarise the tax system’s impact on the incentives to make an additional investment in a particular type of savings. By comparing METRs on different types of household savings, we can gain insights into which assets or savings types receive the most favourable treatment from the tax system.

This country note for Switzerland provides detail on the proportion of CO2 emissions from energy use subject to different effective carbon rates (ECR), as well as on the level and components of average ECRs in each of the six economic sectors (road transport, off-road transport, industry, agriculture and fishing, residential & commercial, and electricity).

The digital revolution, globalisation and demographic changes are transforming labour markets at a time when policy makers are also struggling with slow productivity and wage growth and high levels of income inequality. The new OECD Jobs Strategy provides a comprehensive framework and policy recommendations to help countries address these challenges.

The most attractive OECD countries for highly qualified potential immigrants are Australia, Sweden, Switzerland, New Zealand and Canada, in part because of favourable admission and stay conditions.

Switzerland enjoys some of the highest per-capita GDP and living standards of OECD countries. Taking action now to prepare for a fast-ageing population will be key for the prosperity and well-being of future generations, according to a new OECD report.

Government at a Glance provides a dashboard of key indicators to help you analyse international comparisons of public sector performance.

Key findings for Switzerland from the report "Pensions at a Glance 2019"

The tax-to-GDP ratio in Switzerland decreased by 0.5 percentage points from 28.4% in 2017 to 27.9% in 2018. The corresponding figure for the OECD average was a slight increase of 0.1 percentage point from 34.2% to 34.3% over the same period.

The UN Conference (28 November-9 December 2011) involved OECD experts to focus on green growth and climate change, adaptation and mitigation, carbon accounting, improving transparency (“MRV”), climate finance and technology.

How can government policies move towards increasing agricultural innovation and improving productivity? This OECD conference shared case studies and ideas from Europe, China, United States, India, Africa, Brazil, Australia and New Zealand.

South Africa must take urgent steps to proactively investigate and prosecute foreign bribery. No foreign bribery cases have been prosecuted since South Africa joined the Convention in 2007. The 4 on-going investigations – out of only 10 allegations that have surfaced to date – are also far from reaching the prosecution stage, according to a new report by the OECD Working Group on Bribery.

This self-assessment report looks at South Africa's investment regime in the light of the OECD Codes of Liberalisation and the principle of National Treatment.

This publication highlights new evidence on policies to support job creation, bringing together the latest research on labour market, entrepreneurship and local economic development policy to help governments support job creation in the recovery. It also includes a set of country pages featuring, among other things, new data on skills supply and demand at the level of smaller OECD regions (TL3).

Water resources allocation determines who is able to use water resources, how, when and where. Capturing information from 27 OECD countries and key partner economies, the report presents key findings from the OECD Survey of Water Resources Allocation and case studies of successful allocation reform.

Ministers expressed full support for the OECD’s global relations strategy, as an essential element to increase its impact and relevance. This strategy has been the centrepiece of Secretary-General Angel Gurría’s vision to transform the Organisation into a more inclusive, global policy network and a prime forum for evidence-based policy exchange and global standard setting.

Specific country notes have been prepared using data from the database OECD Health Statistics 2015, July 2015 version. The notes are available in PDF format.

The 2015 edition introduces more detailed analysis of participation in early childhood and tertiary levels of education. The report also examines first generation tertiary-educated adults’ educational and social mobility, labour market outcomes for recent graduates, and participation in employer-sponsored formal and/or non-formal education.

Price levels for private hospital services in South Africa are comparable to the levels observed across OECD countries. But they are higher than what could be expected given the country’s income, according to a new OECD working paper.

Education at a Glance 2016 - Country Notes

The South African economy has registered tremendous progress over the past two decades, boosting living standards and lifting millions out of poverty nationwide.

This study analyses publicly-mobilised private finance for climate action in South Africa, between 2010 and 2015. The mobilisation effect of public climate finance on private finance is estimated through an analysis and attribution of project-level co-finance data. A pilot-methodology then expands the analysis to also incorporate the mobilisation effect of financial support in two sectors: renewable energy and energy efficiency.

This note presents marginal effective tax rates (METRs) that summarise the tax system’s impact on the incentives to make an additional investment in a particular type of savings. By comparing METRs on different types of household savings, we can gain insights into which assets or savings types receive the most favourable treatment from the tax system.

This country note for South Africa provides detail on the proportion of CO2 emissions from energy use subject to different effective carbon rates (ECR), as well as on the level and components of average ECRs in each of the six economic sectors (road transport, off-road transport, industry, agriculture and fishing, residential & commercial, and electricity).