Swiss phone number

If you need to make a call in Switzerland or are just wondering how you write and dial Swiss phone numbers, this guide walks you through all the basics.

How to get a Swiss phone number

If you need a Swiss phone number, take a look at our recommended providers below: 

Get a Swiss mobile phone number

These recommended mobile phone providers operate in Switzerland and can give you a Swiss number: 

• Yallo
• Lebara
• Sunrise
• Swype
• TalkTalk
• Coop Mobile

Get a landline phone number

If you need a fixed-line phone, check out these providers: 

• Salt.
• M-Budget
• iWay

Get a temporary Swiss phone number

A growing number of online services also offer the possibility of getting a temporary Swiss phone number. This can be useful if you need a Swiss number for your business but aren’t able to actually buy a SIM card in Switzerland (for instance if you live abroad). In most cases, you can use your temporary Swiss phone number from a desktop computer, a laptop or a smartphone. 

Phone number format in Switzerland (Switzerland phone codes)

Phone numbers in Switzerland consist of three main parts: 

Country code +41 

The first part of a phone number in Switzerland is the country code. The country code for Switzerland is +41 or 0041. 

You only need to use the country code if you are calling a Swiss number from abroad, in which case you can drop the “0” from the next part of the number and add the local area code. The “00” and the “+” are interchangeable. 

Area code 

The next part of the phone number is the area code. When it comes to landline phone numbers, Switzerland is divided into 20 geographical area codes (Vorkennzahlenbereiche), which usually have three digits and start with a 0. For example, the area code for Zurich is either 043 or 044, Basel is 061, Geneva is 022, Lucerne is 041 and St. Gallen is 071. 

Below you can see a map of area codes in Switzerland:

 

 

It’s worth noting, however, that the area code has more recently been incorporated into the local phone number (and so must always be dialled in addition to the phone number). 

Over time, the geographic assignment of numbers is also starting to disappear as people often port their phone numbers when they change addresses, even if they move outside the area that the phone number previously belonged to. Therefore the area code doesn’t always tell you exactly where the call is coming from. 

The subscriber number

The final part of a Swiss phone number is the subscriber number. In Switzerland, a complete telephone number (excluding the country code) is a maximum of 10 digits, and so (since most area codes are three digits) the subscriber number is usually seven digits long, although there are some exceptions. 

Landline phone number format in Switzerland

If we put this all together, you can see that a landline phone in Switzerland might have a number like this: +41 (0)43 123 45 67. The “+41” tells us this is a Swiss phone number, while the “043” tells us it is a phone number from Zurich (at least originally). 

Swiss mobile numbers

Swiss mobile numbers follow the same logic, but the “area” code they are assigned has nothing to do with geography. Instead, the three-digit mobile phone prefix historically indicated which mobile phone provider that number was registered with; for instance, the 079 code is held by Swisscom, 078 is Salt., and 077 is M-Budget. However, since people often port their mobile phone numbers to different networks, this isn’t always accurate. 

Mobile phone numbers in Switzerland used to start with the prefix 086, but nowadays it is either 075, 076, 077, 078 or 079. So, most mobile phone numbers in Switzerland start with +417. 

Example phone number in Switzerland

So, an example landline phone number in Switzerland could be something like: +41 22 767 6111 (this is the real phone number for the CERN Hadron Collider centre). An example Swiss mobile phone number is +41 71 234 56 78.

How to write and dial a Swiss phone number

If you are dialling a Swiss phone number, the digits you input will change depending on whether you’re calling from abroad, and whether you’re using a mobile phone or a landline. 

Dialling Swiss phone numbers from abroad

If you’re calling from a landline outside of Switzerland, you need to dial the country code (+41), the area code (minus the initial 0), and the subscriber number, so for the example number above you would dial: +41 22 767 6111.

Calling local numbers in Switzerland

If you’re calling from a Swiss landline to another landline, you always need to enter the area code and the subscriber number, including the first “0”, even if you are located within the same area. So, for the example above, you would dial 022 767 6111. 

Dialling Swiss mobile phone numbers

If you're dialling a Swiss mobile number from another Swiss number, you can drop the country code. So, for the example mobile phone number above you would dial: 071 234 56 78. To call a Swiss mobile number from abroad, you need to add the country code, so you’d dial: +41 71 234 56 78 or 0041 721 234 56 78.

Saving numbers

If you are often abroad, it’s a good idea to save numbers into your phone with the country codes included. That way, you’ll never need to manually add them when calling from abroad. 

Special telephone numbers

As elsewhere around the world, Switzerland has a number of other telephone prefixes with specific characteristics. You should watch out for numbers like: 

• 0900, 0901 or 0906: Often used for games and competitions, or “adult entertainment”, and can cost up to 4,50 Swiss francs per minute to call from a landline, and even more from a mobile. 
• 058 or 0848: Customer service numbers that cost you money to call. 
• 0800: All of these numbers are free to call.

Emergency phone numbers

Switzerland also has special emergency phone numbers that you should ring in an emergency. 

Swiss telephone directory

If you’re looking for a phone number in Switzerland, the easiest place to look will be the internet. Most businesses will have their telephone numbers listed on search engines, but alternatively, you could also consult local.ch, the online version of the Swiss telephone directory. 

Who called me from this number in Switzerland?

If you receive a call from a number in Switzerland you don’t recognise, you can usually use the internet to find out the identity of the caller. The search.ch phone book might be of use; alternatively, a quick search will often bring up the caller’s website.