Rented dwellings

At the end of 2021, 2.4 million households in Switzerland (61%) lived in a rented or cooperative dwelling. The urban cantons Basel-Stadt (83%) and Geneva (78%) had the highest proportion of rented dwellings whereas the cantons Appenzell Innerhoden (38%) and Valais (40%) had the lowest. Tenant households were primarily single-person households (45%) or couple households with or without children (44%). These two household types correspond to 37% and 54% of all households, respectively.
The FSO’s surveys provide information on rental prices and the type of owners of rented dwellings.

Rent

Regardless of size, the average net rent in 2021 was CHF 1393 at national level. The highest rents were found in the cantons of Zug, Zurich and Schwyz. The cheapest cantons are Jura, Neuchâtel and Valais.

Average rent paid by tenants and cooperative members by number of rooms
  1990 2000 2021 IC*
Average rent (in CHF) 820 1,059 1,393 3
one-room dwellings 492 598 817 8
two-room dwellings 641 814 1,131 5
three-room dwellings 761 976 1,344 4
four-room dwellings 945 1,198 1,601 5
five-room dwellings 1,249 1,526 1,956 13
dwellings with 6 rooms and more 1,626 1,978 2,492 40
*Confidence interval 2021: ± (in CHF) Sources: Federal population census, Structural survey

Rents and length of occupancy of dwellings

In general, it can be observed that the longer households rent their dwellings, the lower the rents. New dwellings, i.e., those built less than two years ago, are the most expensive. For older dwellings, leases concluded less than two years ago are at clearly lower levels. For example, a new four-room apartment has an average rent of CHF 2112, while older four-room apartments have an average rent of CHF 1700.

Owners of rented dwellings

Almost half of all rented dwellings were owned by private individuals in 2022. There are regional differences.  

Type of owners of rented dwellings by size of dwellings, 2022
  small
(1 to 2 rooms)
medium
(3 to 4 rooms)
large
(5 to 6 rooms)
Type of owners in % VI* in % VI* in % VI*
Private individuals 44.9 3.3 46.1 1.8 61.7 3.6
Public sector   (4.1)   (1.3) 3.7 0.7   (4.9)   (1.6)
Cooperative (5.0) (1.4) 9.6 1.1 6.8 1.9
Construction company or real estate agency 7.8 1.8 6.6 0.9 (4.0) (1.4)
Other joint stock company/
limited liability company/ corporation
38.2 3.3 34.0 1.8 22.7 3.1
* Confidence interval: ± (in % points)
(number): Extrapolation based on fewer than 50 observations. The results should be interpreted with great caution.
Source: FSO – rental index

Survey basis and explanations

The results on the type of owner of rented dwellings come from the quarterly rental index survey. The sample covers some 6400 rented dwellings. The data collected every quarter are cumulated over a year to ensure statistical reliability.

Further information

Tables

Statistical sources and concepts

Contact

Federal statistical office Section Population
Espace de l’Europe 10
CH-2010 Neuchâtel
Switzerland

Contact

Remark

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