Switzerland: Healthcare Costs for Consumers

Current health expenditure (CHE) per capita in US$, 2022: $10,963.43

Source: Global Health Observatory. Current health expenditure (CHE) per capita in US$. Geneva: World Health Organization. Last accessed Jan. 23, 2025.

Out-of-pocket expenditure (OOP) per capita in US$, 2022: $2,366.21

Source: Global Health Observatory. Out-of-pocket expenditure (OOP) per capita in US$. Geneva: World Health Organization. Last accessed Jan. 23, 2025.

Out-of-pocket expenditure as percentage of current health expenditure (CHE) (%), 2022: 21.58%

Source: Global Health Observatory. Out-of-pocket expenditure as percentage of current health expenditure (CHE) (%). Geneva: World Health Organization. Last accessed Jan. 23, 2025.

Domestic private health expenditure (PVT-D) as percentage of current health expenditure (CHE) (%), 2022: 65.05%

Source: Global Health Observatory. Domestic private health expenditure (PVT-D) as percentage of current health expenditure (CHE) (%). Geneva: World Health Organization. Last accessed Jan. 23, 2025.

Domestic private health expenditure (PVT-D) per capita in US$, 2022: $7,131.24

Source: Global Health Observatory. Domestic private health expenditure (PVT-D) per capita in US$. Geneva: World Health Organization. Last accessed Jan. 23, 2025.

Population with household expenditures on health > 10% of total household expenditure or income (%), 2015-2021: 7.9%
Population with household expenditures on health > 25% of total household expenditure or income (%), 2015-2021: 0.32%

Source: World health statistics 2025: monitoring health for the SDGs, Sustainable Development Goals. Tables of health statistics by country and area, WHO region and globally. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2025. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.

Health expenditure per capita, USD PPP, 2022
– Government/compulsory: $5,547
– Voluntary/Out-of-pocket: $2,502
– Total: $8,049
Health expenditure by type of financing, 2021
– Government schemes: 26%
– Compulsory health insurance: 42%
– Voluntary health insurance: 7%
– Out-of-pocket: 22%
– Other: 3%
Out-of-pocket spending on health as share of final household consumption, 2021: 5.5%
Price levels in the healthcare sector, 2021 (OECD average = 100): 162
Population reporting unmet needs for medical care, by income level, 2021
– Lowest quintile: 0.8%
– Highest quintile: 0.1%
– Total: 0.5%
Main reason for reporting unmet needs for medical care, 2021
– Waiting list: 0.0%
– Too expensive: 0.5%
– Too far to travel: 0.0%
Population reporting unmet needs for dental care, by income level, 2021
– Lowest quintile: 4.6%
– Highest quintile: 0.5%
– Total: 2.6%
Expenditure on retail pharmaceuticals by type of financing, 2021:
– Government/compulsory schemes: 63%
– Voluntary health insurance schemes: 3%
– Out-of-pocket spending: 33%
– Other: 0%
Share of informal carers among the population aged 50 and over, 2019
– Daily carers: 6%
– Weekly carers: 9%

Source: OECD (2023), Health at a Glance 2023: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, doi.org/10.1787/7a7afb35-en.

Annual household out-of-pocket payment in current USD per capita, 2020: $2,265

Source: Global Health Expenditure Database. Health expenditure series. Geneva: World Health Organization. Last accessed May 13, 2023.

“Financial flows are fragmented and split between different government levels and different social insurance schemes. Resources are collected mostly through taxes (32.4% of THE [Total Health Expenditure] in 2012) and MHI [Mandatory Health Insurance] premiums (30.0% of THE) but a considerable part of tax resources are subsequently allocated to the different social insurance schemes, in particular as subsidies to lower and lower-middle income households for the purchase of MHI. As a result of this reallocation, MHI companies are the most important purchasers and payers in the system, mostly negotiating collective contracts with providers, and financing 35.8% of THE. This is followed by OOP [Out Of Pocket] payments (26.0% of THE) and government spending (mostly from cantons) (20.3% of THE). In international comparison, the share of public spending is relatively low, while the share of OOP payments is exceptionally high.

“MHI premiums are community-rated, i.e. they are the same for every person enrolled with a particular company within a region, independent of gender or health status. Different premiums apply to three different age classes: (1) from 0 to less than 19 years; (2) from 19 to less than 26 years; (3) 26 years and above. In 2012, 29% of the Swiss population had to pay only a reduced premium or no premium at all. In addition, there are about 108 000 people (1.3% of the population) who default on paying their premiums. MHI premiums are collected by MHI companies and are subsequently reallocated between MHI companies based on an increasingly refined risk-equalization mechanism. Complementary and supplementary VHI plays a rather small and declining role, financing about 7.2% of THE in 2012.”

Source: De Pietro C, Camenzind P, Sturny I, Crivelli L, Edwards-Garavoglia S, Spranger A, Wittenbecher F, Quentin W. Switzerland: Health system review. Health Systems in Transition, 2015; 17(4):1–288.

“Relatively strong economic growth in Switzerland, in particular since 2004 (except in 2009, see Table 3.1) has meant that the proportion of GDP spent on health increased by “only” 2.0 percentage points between 1995 and 2013. During the same period, per capita spending on health in US$ at PPP more than doubled from US$ PPP 2566 in 1995 to US$ PPP 6186 in 2013.

“If per capita spending on health in US$ PPP is compared across countries (see Fig. 3.3), Switzerland (US$ PPP 6186) spends almost twice as much as the average in the EU (US$ 3378), and is topped only by Luxembourg (US$ 6518) and Norway (US$ 6307). Monaco follows with a similar amount of US$ 6122. In those countries that spend a similar share of GDP on health as Switzerland, per capita expenditures in US$ PPP is lower due to a lower GDP per capita.”

Switzerland: Health System Costs for Consumers - National Policies - World Health Systems Facts

World Health Systems Facts is a project of the Real Reporting Foundation. We provide reliable statistics and other data from authoritative sources regarding health systems and policies in the US and sixteen other nations.

Page last updated June 17, 2025 by Doug McVay, Editor.