Swiss remain optimistic about the future. That may seem surprising. Geopolitical conflict, rising healthcare costs, migration, climate change and the cost of living consistently rank among the country’s biggest concerns. Yet according to a new nationwide survey, 80% of Swiss adults are optimistic about their personal prospects over the coming year, including 22% who say they are very confident.
Optimism for the coming year rises with income, from 69% among respondents with an equivalent monthly income below CHF 4,000 to 89% among those earning more than CHF 6,000. Older Swiss are also more optimistic than younger generations: 86% of those aged 65 or over express confidence about the coming year, compared with 76% of adults under 50. Regional differences are evident too. In German-speaking Switzerland, 82% of respondents are optimistic, compared with 73% in French-speaking Switzerland.
Almost everyone surveyed (98%) reports having at least one life goal. By far the most common is ageing in good health, selected by 77% of respondents. Travel follows at 51%, ahead of family (48%), lasting relationships (47%), fitness (47%), financial prosperity (42%), professional fulfilment (39%) and home ownership (34%), a figure broadly in line with the actual homeownership rate of 36%.
Yet respondents become more cautious when asked whether they expect to achieve those ambitions. The survey asked only those who selected each goal how confident they were of attaining it. Confidence is highest for family (81%) and marriage (79%), and remains relatively strong for travel (70%), relationships (65%), fitness (64%) and home ownership (61%). It falls sharply, however, for ageing in good health (45%) and financial prosperity (43%), the two lowest confidence scores in the survey.
Healthy ageing stands out in particular. It is the aspiration shared by more people (77%) than any other, yet fewer than half (45%) of those who hope to achieve it believe they will do so. Financial prosperity also attracts relatively low confidence (43%) among those who aspire to it.
The personal confidence that people do have appears to be rooted less in the outside world than in people’s immediate lives. Asked what gives them confidence, respondents point overwhelmingly to personal relationships and individual resilience. Half cite friendships and 50% their partner or spouse. 49% mention family and another 49% their physical wellbeing. 46% draw confidence from their own resilience or self-confidence, while 42% point to financial security or property. By contrast, only 5% say broader societal developments give them confidence. The findings suggest that optimism is built from personal llfe rather than determined by outside forces.
Money nevertheless emerges as an important enabler of confidence. Overall, 82% of respondents say financial resources are either very or fairly important to achieving their life goals, including 29% who describe them as very important. Among adults aged 18-34, that rises to 86%, suggesting younger people place an even greater emphasis on money to achieve goals.
More on this:
Sotomo survey (in English)
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