What’s the average disposable income in Switzerland?

The Federal Statistical Office (FSO) has released the latest figures on the average monthly disposable income in Switzerland, as well as how people tend to spend their monthly salaries.

People in Switzerland have 7.186 Swiss francs to spare per month

The 2023 Household Budget Survey, conducted by the FSO, has found that the average disposable household income across Switzerland in 2023 was 7.186 Swiss francs per month. This is about the same as the previous year.

Disposable income is calculated as the “gross income minus mandatory expenses”. It includes both a person’s monthly salary from an employer and the optional benefit some employers offer of a 13-month salary. It excludes things like pensions or interest earned from investments.

While Switzerland is known to have some of the highest incomes in Europe, the survey found that not everyone in the alpine nation benefits from such a high monthly disposable income. In 2023, 61 percent of households in Switzerland had a monthly disposable income that was below the 7.186 Swiss franc average. 

How people in Switzerland spend their monthly income

The FSO found that in 2023, mandatory expenses totalled an average of 3.154 Swiss francs per month, or 30,5 percent of a household’s gross income.

This includes payments such as taxes, which averaged 1.245 Swiss francs per month or 12 percent of gross income, and was the largest expense households in Switzerland had to pay. Other mandatory expenses included social security contributions (10,3 percent of gross income), pension contributions and health insurance payments (6,7 percent of gross income).

After mandatory expenses had been paid, households spent an average of 5.049 Swiss francs, or 48,8 percent of their gross income, on consumer spending (like holidays, clothes and other amenities). Furthermore, 14 percent of a household’s gross income was spent on water and energy bills, which on average increased from 1.374 to 1.449 Swiss francs per month.

The data revealed that following all of these payments, households had an average of 1.737 Swiss francs per month, or 16,8 percent of their gross income, to save for the future. 

With rent prices and health insurance premiums continuing to rise, people in Switzerland are finding it increasingly difficult to put money aside. A survey by insurance company Baloise released in October 2025 found that less than 50 percent of people in Switzerland were able to save money in the past six months.