This country note features selected environmental indicators from the OECD Core Set, building on harmonised datasets available on OECD Data Explorer. The indicators reflect major environmental issues, including climate, air quality, freshwater resources, waste and the circular economy, and biodiversity. Differences with national data sources can occur due to delays in data treatment and publication, or due to different national definitions and measurement methods. The OECD is working with countries and other international organisations to further improve the indicators and the underlying data.
Environment at a Glance: Switzerland
Switzerland has a small open economy, where living standards remain high. Its population is healthier than in many countries and is well educated. This contributes to high employment rates and narrow wage differentials. As a small open economy, Switzerland has benefited from the flow of ideas, people and capital. It boasts world-class industries and attracts international talent.
A mountainous, small, landlocked country at the centre of the Alpine arc, Switzerland has significant water resources but is poorly endowed with mineral raw materials and energy resources. The country has a rich variety of natural and cultural landscapes, which contribute to the reputation of Swiss tourism and, consequently, to economic development. Population density is high, particularly on the Swiss Plateau.
Switzerland’s climate is temperate but can vary across regions, ranging from glacial freeze and frequent cold spells on the mountain tops to an almost Mediterranean climate at the southern tip. Precipitation is spread evenly throughout the seasons, with little variations.
Rising income and consumption result in higher waste generation, but much of the Swiss environmental impact is estimated to be embodied in the import of goods and services. Switzerland is poorly endowed with mineral ores and energy resources.
Both energy supply and production-based CO2 emissions have been decoupled from real gross domestic product (GDP) since the late 2000s.
The per person production-based and demand-based (or footprint) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have remained relatively stable during since 1995. Demand-based emissions are higher than production-based ones, meaning that Switzerland is a net importer of GHG emissions embodied in its final demand.
Total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have been declining since 2000, albeit with small fluctuations, mainly driven by the residential and transport sectors. Transport is the largest source of emissions, followed by the residential sector. The land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) sector is marginal with respect to total emissions.
The Swiss energy mix is cleaner than most OECD countries, with more than half of total energy supply being sourced from nuclear and renewables sources in 2023. The share of coal is negligible, while the share of oil has decreased and that of natural gas has remained quite relatively stable.
As a landlocked country producing no fossil fuels, Switzerland relies heavily on hydroelectricity and nuclear power to meet the bulk of its electricity needs. The Government has announced that nuclear power will gradually be phased out with Swiss voters backing the proposal in a May 2017 referendum. In the wake of this electoral decision, the Mühleberg nuclear power plant went off-line in December 2019, marking the first of five Swiss nuclear power reactors to be decommissioned. Due to the scarcity of fossil-fuel production and the overhaul of the country’s policy towards nuclear power, imports of types of energy products account for over a half of the country’s total primary energy supply in 2021 (OECD, 2023[1]).
Emissions of most major air pollutants, especially sulphur oxides (SOx), have been steadily decreasing since 2000. Emissions of ammonia (NH3) have declined much less than other pollutants, due to importance of the agricultural sector.
These reductions result in emission intensities, both per person and per unit of GDP, which are much lower than the OECD and OECD Europe averages.
Population exposure to fine particulates PM2.5 concentrations, albeit higher than the World Health Organisation guideline value of 5 µ/m3, remains below the average of many OECD countries. Regional exposure is rather uniform, except for the Ticino region.
Even though there are no recent data, water stress (freshwater abstractions as percentage of total renewable resources) does not seem to be an issue in Switzerland as the country has relatively abundant freshwater resources. Abstractions for public supply have been steadily declining since 2000 but remain high by OECD standards.
The vast majority of households are connected to wastewater treatment plants with tertiary (advanced) treatment levels, the rest being connected to secondary treatment levels. This makes of Switzerland one of the best performer in the OECD.
Switzerland has embarked on a long-term endeavour to rehabilitate its rivers to their natural functioning and counteract aquatic biodiversity loss. It is one of the first countries implementing a national policy to reduce micro-pollutants in municipal sewage treatment plant effluents, and measures have been taken to tackle diffuse pollution from agriculture (OECD, 2017[2]).
Switzerland produces far more municipal waste per person than the OECD average and this amount has remained relatively stable since 2000. It partly reflects the high consumption levels of the population.
Almost half of it is incinerated with energy recovery. The other half is either composted (with the amount having more than doubled since 2000) or sent to recycling (the amount of which has not increased much since 2000).
Seeking to reduce the volume of household waste, the vast majority of municipalities have introduced a tax per bag used. The policy has been effective in reducing waste production and encouraging participation in recycling and composting (OECD, 2017[2]).
Domestic material consumption per person has been declining since 2000 and is below the EU and OECD averages, whereas its productivity is much higher. This performance also reflects the dependence of Switzerland on imported materials. Its material footprint in fact is much higher than the OECD and EU averages.
About a third of Switzerland is covered with forests, whereas about 40% is made up of cropland and permanent meadows and pastures.
Switzerland has a rather low degree of endemism. Species diversity is particularly high on the northern and southern limits of the Alps due to altitudinal differences providing numerous habitats for plants and animals. Low diversity resulting from habitat destruction from large-scale intensive cultivation is observed in the Central Plateau. Since 1960, the rate of human-induced extinction has clearly exceeded the natural rate. Pressures on biodiversity are due to intensive agriculture, increased urbanization, land abandonment, housing construction (e.g. in dry grassland areas), increased forest coverage, etc. (CBD, 2022[3]).
Switzerland has few terrestrial protected areas, just over 12%, about half of the OECD Europe average, and well below the 2030 target to protect 30% of terrestrial land under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF Target 3). The majority of these protected areas are reserves designed for game species conservation (OECD, 2017[2]).
This section shows selected policy instruments based on data available for most OECD countries and does not provide a complete overview of countries’ policy mix to achieve their environment-related objectives. Interpretation should consider the country specific context.
Environmentally-related tax revenues as percentage of GDP have been historically much lower than OECD and OECD Europe averages. Due to the decline of revenues in the OECD area since 2016, the Swiss value has reached the OECD average, at 1.3% in 2022, but still well below the OECD Europe average. Like in many other countries, energy followed by transport make up the vast majority of environmentally-related tax bases.
The bulk of fossil fuel support instruments in Switzerland are measures benefitting the transportation sector. Largest among these are excise tax exemptions on most uses of aviation fuels that normally applies to most sales of mineral oils in the country. For individuals, there are also deductions claimable from the federal direct tax on commuting expenses capped at CHF 3 000 at the federal level, where Switzerland has a relatively high use of fossil fuels in its transportation sector. Cantons similarly allow deductions for commuting expenses through cantonal and municipal income taxes, which are often more generous than the federal deduction. Significant revenue forgone amounts can also be observed on exemptions on CO2 levy for certain large energy-intensive companies for fuels used on heating and non-energy purposes. Measures directly benefitting the transport sector saw declines in support amounts in 2020 as covid-19 mobility restrictions were implemented and consumption of transport fuels significantly fell as a direct consequence (OECD, 2023[1]).
In total, 75.1% of GHG emissions in Switzerland were subject to a positive Net Effective Carbon Rate (ECR) in 2023. Explicit carbon prices in Switzerland consist of emissions trading system (ETS) permit prices and carbon taxes, which cover 42.9% of GHG emissions in CO2 eq. With roughly 32.5% of total GHG emissions, coverage is largest for carbon taxes. Fuel excise taxes, an implicit form of carbon pricing, cover 66% of emissions in 2023. About 75% of GHG emissions have a Net ECR above EUR 60 per tonne of CO2 eq., a mid-range estimate of current carbon costs. Net ECR are highest in the road transport sector, which accounts for 31.5% of the country's total GHG emissions. The Net ECR is on average positive in all sectors (OECD, 2024[4]).
Environmentally-related government R&D budget has increased from 0.17% in 2000 to 0.33% of total government R&D budget in 2023. Renewables make up almost 30% of public energy RD&D budget.
The percentage of environmentally-related technology development in total inventions is well below the OECD averages and, after an increase in 2008-14, it declined dropped back to its 2000 level.
Switzerland has long-term partner country engagement in complex contexts, with a strong humanitarian tradition and a commitment to addressing fragility. Switzerland has an important voice in multilateral organisations. Switzerland’s total official development assistance (ODA) decreased in 2024 to USD 4.6 billion (preliminary data), representing 0.51% of gross national income.
In 2022-23, Switzerland committed 30.1% of its total bilateral allocable ODA in support of the environment and the Rio Conventions, up from 27.2% in 2020-21. The DAC average was 39% in 2022-23. Five per cent of screened bilateral allocable ODA focused on environmental issues as a principal objective, compared with the DAC average of 9.6%. Twenty-six per cent of total bilateral allocable ODA focused on climate change overall, up from 23.2% in 2020-21 (the DAC average was 34.8%). Switzerland had a greater focus on adaptation (22.4%) than on mitigation (14.7%) in 2022-23. Nine per cent of screened bilateral allocable ODA focused on biodiversity overall, up from 6.3% in 2020-21 (the DAC average was 7.6%). (OECD, 2025[5]).
References
[3] CBD (2022), Country profiles: Switzerland, https://www.cbd.int/countries/profile/?country=ch#facts.
[5] OECD (2025), Development Co-operation Profiles, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/development-co-operation-profiles_04b376d7-en/switzerland_e711cffb-en.html.
[4] OECD (2024), Pricing Greenhouse Gas Emissions 2024: Gearing Up to Bring Emissions Down, OECD Series on Carbon Pricing and Energy Taxation, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/b44c74e6-en.
[1] OECD (2023), OECD Inventory of Support Measures for Fossil Fuels: Country Notes, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/5a3efe65-en.
[2] OECD (2017), OECD Environmental Performance Reviews: Switzerland 2017, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264279674-en.
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