A toast to money, gold, gardens – and floorboards 1,000,000,000 Switzerland considers itself a thrifty nation. But perhaps it should also call itself a forgetful nation. According to the Swiss National Bank (SNB), 17 million sixth-series Swiss banknotes (1976) worth a total of around one billion francs have gone missing. Worthless today, they were never exchanged for new banknotes and are considered to be lost. That is a lot of forgotten money under the floorboards. However, it is still possible to exchange sixth-series banknotes directly at the SNB in Berne or Zurich or at an SNB agency. www.revue.link/serie6 88,000,000,000 Posthumous transactions are one of the reasons why the rich get richer. A large proportion of all inherited wealth goes to those who already have a lot of money. This further exacerbates the gap between rich and poor. According to the latest figures, 88 billion francs is inherited every year in Switzerland – around twice as much as the total amount of money paid out in state pensions. 833,500,000,000 The 300 richest people in Switzerland have never been as rich, now owning a total of 833.5 billion Swiss francs. Published at the end of every year since 1988, Switzerland’s rich list is mainly of interest to those who can only dream of such prosperity. Incidentally, the total wealth of the 300 richest people in 1988 was 66 billion francs. Source: “Bilanz” business magazine 200,000 When interest rates are low, people turn to gold. More and more Swiss people view gold as a stable investment. In total, around 200,000 kg of the precious metal are currently owned by private individuals in Switzerland. Less than 40 per cent of people in Switzerland who keep gold use a bank safe. Many store it at home. Five per cent bury it in the garden. Source: University of St Gallen and Philoro Schweiz 0.75 How about a bottle of white wine from the canton of Vaud to toast all this wealth? It also offers interest. Many Vaud vignerons sell their wine in 0.70-litre bottles, but the EU wants Swiss wine bottles to have a uniform size. Sooner or later, producers will have to switch to the conventional 0.75-litre format. FIGURES COMPILED BY MARC LETTAU “Swiss Review”, the magazine for the Swiss Abroad, is in its 50th year of publication and is published five times a year, in 13 regional editions, in German, French, English and Spanish. It has a total circulation of 469,000, including 299,000 electronic copies. All Swiss Abroad who are registered with a Swiss representation receive the magazine free of charge. Anyone else can subscribe for an annual fee (Switzerland: CHF 30 / Abroad: CHF 50). ONLINE EDITION www.revue.ch EDITORS Marc Lettau, Editor-in-Chief (MUL), Stéphane Herzog (SH), Theodora Peter (TP), Susanne Wenger (SWE), Amandine Madziel, FDFA representative (AM) FDFA OFFICIAL COMMUNICATIONS The editorial responsibility for the “Notes from the Federal Palace” section is assumed by the Consular Directorate, Innovation and Partnerships, Effingerstrasse 27, 3003 Berne, Switzerland. kdip@eda.admin.ch | www.eda.admin.ch ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Airpage AG, Uster/Zurich furrer@airpage.ch | www.airpage.ch The ordering parties are fully responsible for the content of advertisements and promotional inserts. This content does not necessarily represent the opinion of either the editorial office or the publisher. EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Nema Bliggenstorfer (NB) TRANSLATION SwissGlobal Language Services AG, Baden LAYOUT Joseph Haas, Zurich PRINT Vogt-Schild Druck AG, Derendingen PUBLISHER The “Swiss Review” is published by the Organisation of the Swiss Abroad. The postal address of the publisher and the editorial office is: Organisation of the Swiss Abroad, Alpenstrasse 26, 3006 Berne. revue@swisscommunity.org Phone: +41 31 356 61 10 Bank details: CH97 0079 0016 1294 4609 8 / KBBECH22 COPY DEADLINE FOR THIS EDITION 4 December 2024 CHANGES OF ADDRESS Please advise your local embassy or consulate. The editorial team cannot access your address and administrative data. Thank you. Swiss Review / January 2025 / No.1 19 Switzerland in figures Imprint
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