New 2016 GfK purchasing power data is now available for Austria and Switzerland. Purchasing power levels vary substantially both between and within these two neighboring countries. GfK’s study reveals the regional distribution of this purchasing power.
GfK forecasts a 2016 per-capita purchasing power of €42,300 for Switzerland. According to the GfK study, the total purchasing power for Switzerland in 2016 is €348.5 bil. (excluding Liechtenstein), while the total 2016 purchasing power for Austria is approximately €193.5 bil. The latter figure corresponds to an average of €22,536 available to each Austrian for consumption, rent and living costs.
Due to Germany’s significantly larger population, its purchasing power of €1,776.5 bil. is many times higher than that of its previously mentioned neighbors. The average German thus has a 2016 purchasing power of €21,879.
Purchasing power measures the available net income of the population, including government subsidies such as unemployment assistance, child benefit and pension contributions. GfK’s study illuminates the regional differences in these values, revealing the regional distribution of purchasing power within and between each individual country.
Switzerland
Comparison of cantons
Inhabitants of Zug – Switzerland’s most affluent canton – have 1.5 times the purchasing power of the national average. Inhabitants of the second- and third-ranked cantons, Schwyz and Nidwalden, have purchasing power levels that exceed the Swiss average by approximately 36 and 22 percent, respectively. Only seven of the 26 cantons have an above-average per-capita purchasing power, which shows that even in affluent Switzerland, there are significant regional differences in purchasing power.