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No friends and sky-high costs: The downsides of Switzerland for expats

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No friends and sky-high costs: The downsides of Switzerland for expats
Photo: Deposit photos

Switzerland has long been seen as a haven of political neutrality and a country of extraordinary natural beauty. But, according to a recent global survey for those looking to move over, barriers still exist when it comes to cost and making local friends.

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Switzerland is not the best country for expats, or immigrants to live in but it's far from the worst.

At least that's the basic conclusion you could draw from the latest global Expat Insider survey by Internations.

Switzerland was ranked 38th out of 64 in a survey that drew on the responses of over 20,000 foreign citizens.

So what explains the mid-table score? First the downsides.

High prices 

The high cost of living in Switzerland will not come as a shock to many.

Its financial centre Zürich is one of the most expensive cities in the world with Geneva coming not far behind.

Although on the plus side according to the survey, the majority of ex-pats (68%) have a salary above 75,000 USD putting them into the top bracket of even Swiss earners.

But the high cost of living seems to outweigh the benefits.

Those moving from a country like the UK might be shocked at Switzerland’s expensive healthcare with the country ranked three places from the bottom.

However, this may not be quite such a surprise for expats from the United States. 

Double the number of expats questioned were unhappy about the high cost of living in Switzerland, 64% compared to 34% globally. It’s a country that has the most expensive Big Macs in the world and for some, it just takes the biscuit. 

Depositphotos

Difficult to make friends

Switzerland, like its neighbour France, is not known for giving a warm welcome to foreigners especially to those who don’t speak the language (s).

The added problem is that there are four (three and a bit) languages to learn and one of them (Schweizerdeutsch) is regarded as a strong and complicated dialect even by native German speakers.

In the language department, Switzerland was ranked 45 out of 64 and a very low 61 when it comes to making friends with the locals. 

This mix of a lack of a shared language alongside perceived unfriendliness towards new arrivals (only one in ten respondents said the Swiss were ‘very friendly’) is what has led to more than half of ex-pats making friends with…well, each other. Some 51% say their friends are mainly ‘other expats’ compared to 34% on a global scale. 

For families, the country was distinctly average. Switzerland currently lags behind the rest of Europe when it comes to paternity leave with a measly two weeks available for men although some politicians in the upcoming elections are looking to double this availability to a month.

Another issue was the availability of childcare with the country coming in close to the bottom at 26 out of 36 on the family life index. Cost of childcare is another issue with 69% saying they’re unhappy with the high costs of childcare.

On the other hand the country ranked highly in terms of its education sector coming in 6th for quality of education.

And the positives 

Political stability 

Now that you’re scared off by potential unfriendliness and the high price of milk there were areas where Switzerland came across from a slightly more positive angle.

In terms of political stability, Switzerland ranked highly and this reflected well with those living there.

Some 73% of people described Switzerland’s political stability as ‘very good’ in comparison with 30% globally.

In 2019 the backdrop of populism across Europe, the Gilet Jaunes protests in France, Brexit and Donald Trump makes Switzerland’s stability seem very cosy indeed. 

Depositphotos

 

The great outdoors   

Switzerland is also very well-placed in terms of the rest of Europe. It has a strong rail network which connects the country well internally and to its neighbours, a fact reflected in it’s being 4th overall in this category.

Respondents were pleased with the country’s natural beauty, with one Swiss resident from Spain saying that “it is just amazing to have those beautiful natural locations so close to city life”.

And truly Switzerland is a country of stunning natural beauty. Also, a reminder that the mountains are free.

The country was ranked 2nd overall in terms of the environment and 36th in terms of Leisure Options. One can but assume that this is based on the ease of being able to strap on a backpack and be in the peaks within a few hours. 

 

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