Early retirement may no longer be allowed in Switzerland; heart disease is the number one killer among Switzerland’s population; and more news in our Tuesday roundup.
Early retirement may no longer be allowed in Switzerland
The government intends to tighten restrictions on early retirement before the statuary age of 65.
To achieve this goal, authorities are considering blocking the access to pension funds and third-pillar benefits before the age of 63.
Until now, only those with substantial pension fund assets – that is, high-earners – have been able to leave the workforce as early as 58 thanks to +supplementary benefits.”
For the middle class, however, retiring four or five years before the legal age is generally not feasible, as the reductions in second-pillar pension benefits are too significant.
But in the future, everyone is likely to be treated the same. The stated objective of this move is to avoid a “two-tiered” early retirement system.
Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in Switzerland
More than a quarter of deaths among the Swiss population in 2024 were due to cardiovascular diseases. Overall, and particularly among women, they remain the most frequent cause of death.
According to the federal statistics on causes of death published on Monday, nearly 72,000 people in Switzerland’s resident population died in 2024, – approximately 35,000 men and 37,000 women.
Among women, cardiovascular diseases were the most frequent cause of death (nearly 29 percent), followed by cancer (22 percent), while among men, the opposite was true: most deaths were due to cancer (28 percent), followed by cardiovascular diseases (27 percent).
For both sexes, the cancer mortality rate increased, while the mortality rate from cardiovascular diseases decreased compared to the previous year. Deaths from dementia also increased among men.
On the other hand, the mortality rate from external causes, including accidents, acts of violence, and suicides, dropped for both sexes.
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Revealed: Switzerland’s top ‘Words of the Year’
Each December, researchers at the School of Applied Linguistics of the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) select words that embody key social developments for the current year.
And because this is Switzerland, words are chosen for each linguistic area, based on what major events or discourses trended in those particular regions.
In 2025, for the Swiss German part, the Word of the Year is ‘Frauen-Nati’ – that is, the Swiss women’s national team.
In French speaking regions, it is ‘génocide‘ (genocide); in the Italian-language parts, dazi (tariffs or customs duties) and in Romansh – IA (AI – artificial intelligence)
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