Government at a Glance 2015

www.oecd.org/gov/govataglance.htm

Country Fact Sheet

Switzerland

Small annual budget surpluses have helped to decrease Swiss government debt
to one of the lowest levels across OECD countries
Switzerland employs a fiscal “debt-brake” rule that requires the federal government to balance its budget
over the business cycle. Between 2007 and 2013, the general government debt (according to the System of
National Accounts definition) decreased by 5 p.p., reaching a level of 46% of the GDP, 40 p.p. lower than
the OECD average. This reduction was mainly supported by small general government surpluses over the
same period of time. The Swiss fiscal balance presented a surplus level of 0.9% of the GDP in the year 2007,
and 0.1% of the GDP in 2013.
Chapter 2: Public finance and economics
General government fiscal balance as a percentage of GDP
General government gross debt as a percentage of GDP

Despite noticeable progress, women are still underrepresented in Swiss public life
In 2013, women are overrepresented in public sector employment, accounting for 57% of the total public
sector workforce, close to the OECD average (58%). Additionally, between 2009 and 2013, female employ-
ment in the public sector grew faster than in the economy as a whole. Public sector employment has also
grown. Between 2009 and 2013, Switzerland experienced one of the largest increases in the share of public
sector employment over total employment, going from 15% of 18% of the total employment. Nevertheless,
in 2013 the public sector is still small (18% of the total employment), relative to the OECD average (21%).
Chapter 3: Public employment and compensation
Share of public sector employment filled by women and men
Public sector employment as a percentage of total employment

Integrity practices could be improved by increasing the level of disclosure

of public servants
Conflict of interest in government can be managed by the disclosure of private interest of public officials. In
2014, the level of disclosure remained low across all branches of the Swiss government, and all them remind
lower than the OECD average. The major differences with respect to the OECD average are observed in the
legislative and judicial branches, while the least differences are in the executive branch and “at risk” areas,
including tax and customs officials, procurement agents and financial authorities.
Chapter 7: Public Sector Integrity
Level of disclosure and public availability of private interests across branches of government
 How to read the figures:
Values have been rounded.
Country value in blue Average of OECD countries Range of OECD country
n.a. refers to
(not represented if not available) in green values in grey
Switzerland data not available

GOVERNMENT INPUTS: FINANCIAL AND HUMAN RESOURCES

Public Finance & Economics Public Employment & Compensation

Public Finance and Economics

Government revenues Government expenditures Public investment Government gross debt *
(2013) (2013) (2013) (2013)
% of GDP % of GDP % of of total govt. expenditures % of GDP

45.7% 100%

Switzerland
Switzerland Switzerland Switzerland
0%

33.6% 37.7% 33.5% 41.9% 9.0% 7.8% 109.3% 100%

0%

20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 0% 50% 100% 150% 200% 250%

Source: OECD National Accounts

Source: OECD National Accounts Source: OECD National Accounts Source: OECD National Accounts * SNA definition, see Notes

Fiscal balance *
(2013)
% of GDP

-15% -10% -5% 0% +5% +10% +15%

0.1% -4.2%
Switzerland
G@G /data

Source: OECD National Accounts. * See Notes

Public Employment and Compensation

Public sector employment Public sector employment Share of women ministers
as % of total employment (2013) filled by women (2013) (2015)

Switzerland Switzerland Switzerland

18.0% 56.5% 42.9%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

21.3% 58.0% 29.3%

Source: International Labour Organization (database) Source: International Labour Organization (database) Source: Inter-Parliamentary Union Parline Database
G@G /data
 GOVERNMENT PROCESSES
Institutions Regulatory Governance Public Procurement Public Sector Integrity Digital Government

Institutions Regulatory Governance

Level of Stakeholder engagement and consultation (2014)
influence of the
Centre of Government Stakeholder engagement to inform
Consultation on draft regulations
over line ministries officials about the problem and
or proposed rules
possible solutions
(2013)
Subordinate Subordinate
Primary laws regulations Primary laws regulations

For some For major

Moderate For some For all
subordinate subordinate
Switzerland primary laws primary laws
Switzerland regulations regulations

30% 3% 6% 68% 53%

59% 15% 9% 6% 18%
11% 65% 62% 18% 24%
15% 23% 6% 5%
2% 0% 2% 0%
High Moderate Low
For all primary laws / For major primary laws / For some primary laws / Not
Never applicable
subordinate regulations subordinate regulations subordinate regulations
Source: OECD 2013 Survey on Centre of Government Source: OECD Regulatory Policy Outlook (forthcoming)

Public Procurement
Procurement expenditure Strategic public procurement - Objectives
(2013) (2014)
% of government expenditures
Support for green Support for Support for innovative
public procurement SMEs goods and services
G@G /data

Switzerland

Women in Government
Switzerland

25.0% 29.0%
13 26 1 2 10 25 0 3 10 23 0 3

A strategy / policy has been developed by some procuring entities A strategy / policy has been rescinded
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
A strategy / policy has been developed at a central level A strategy / policy has never been developed

Source: OECD National Accounts Source: 2014 OECD Survey on Public Procurement

Digital Gov. Public Sector Integrity

OURdata Index: Level G@G
of /data
disclosure of private interests
Open, Useful, Reusable across branches of government
Government Data (2014) (2014)
Composite index
from 0 lowest to 1 highest
Executive Branch Legislative Branch Judicial Branch “At risk” areas
1 High level
64
0.48 0.8 44
Switzerland Medium level
32
0.6 23 25 19 26
Low level
0.4
10

0.2
0.58
Switzerland Switzerland Switzerland Switzerland
0
Source: 2014 OECD Survey on Open Government Data Source: 2014 OECD Survey on Managing Conflict of Interest in the Executive Branch and Whistleblower Protection
G@G /data
 GOVERNMENT OUTPUTS AND OUTCOMES
Core Government Results and Service Delivery
Satisfaction and confidence across public services (2014)
% of citizens expressing confidence/satisfaction

Health care
94% 71%
100

80

60

40

National government Education system

20
Switzerland
75% 42% 81% 67%
Average

Range

Judicial system
81% 54%
Source: Gallup World Poll

Access to healthcare (2012) Equity in learning outcomes (2012)

Out of pocket expenditure as a % of final household consumption PISA mathematics score variance by socio economic background

3.8% 2.8% 12.8% 14.8%

Switzerland Switzerland
0% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%

Source: OECD Health Statistics 2014 Source: OECD, PISA 2012 results: Excellence through equity, 2013

Changes in household disposable income, Limited government powers

by income group (2007-2011) (2014)
5%

0%
n.a.
Switzerland

n.a. n.a. -1.6% -0.8% -5%

Switzerland 0.76
-10%
Bottom Top Bottom Top
10% 10% 10% 10% [0.37-0.92]
-15%

Source: OECD Income Distribution Database Source: The World Justice Project

Notes
 Fiscal balance as reported in the System of National Accounts (SNA) framework, also referred to as net lending (+) or net borrowing (-) of government, is calculated as total government revenues minus total government expenditures.
 Structural fiscal balance, or underlying balance, represents the fiscal balance adjusted for the state of the economic cycle (as measured by the output gap which resulted as the difference between actual and potential GDP) and one-off
fiscal operations.
 Government gross debt is reported according to the SNA definition, which differs from the definition applied under the Maastricht Treaty. It is defined as all liabilities that require payment or payments of interest or principal by the
debtor to the creditor at a date or dates in the future. All debt instruments are liabilities, but some liabilities such as shares, equity and financial derivatives are not debt.

Government at a Glance 2015

With a focus on public administration, OECD Government at a Glance 2015 provides readers with a dashboard of key indicators assembled with the
goal of contributing to the analysis and international comparison of public sector performance across OECD countries. Indicators on public finances
and employment are provided alongside composite indexes summarising aspects of public management policies, and indicators on services to
citizens in health care, education, and justice. Government at a Glance 2015 also includes indicators on key governance and public management
issues, such as regulatory management, budgeting practices and procedures, public sector integrity, public procurement and core government
results in terms of trust in institutions, income redistribution and efficiency and cost-effectiveness of governments.

The Excel spreadsheets used to create the tables and figures in Government at a Glance 2015 are available
via the StatLinks provided throughout the publication:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/gov_glance-2015-en
For more information on the data (including full methodology and figure notes)
and to consult all other Country Fact Sheets: www.oecd.org/gov/govataglance.htm