The Statistics on equality of people with disabilities compares the quality of life of persons with disabilities with that of persons without disabilities. It considers the progress already made and the work that still needs to be done to fully achieve the equality enshrined in the federal Constitution between persons with disabilities and those without.
What's new?
In focus
At a glance
| Persons with severe disabilities | Persons with disabilities (total) | Persons without disability | |
|---|---|---|---|
Number of persons 1 |
339 000 |
1 572 000 |
* |
| Educational attainment: upper secondary or higher (%) 2 | 79.6 |
88.0 |
91.3 |
| Persons in employment (%) 3 | 42.2 |
67.9 |
84.1 |
| No risk of poverty (%) 4 | 73.8 |
83.9 |
89.5 |
| Current life (mean satisfaction) 5 | 5.8 |
7.2 |
8.2 |
| Use of public transport without assistance with no difficulty (%) 6 | 69.7 |
89.1 |
99.2 |
1 SILC 2021. Population aged 16 or over who live in a private household.
2 SILC 2021. Part of persons aged 25 to 64 who achieved at least an upper secondary degree (vocational training or general education).
3 SILC 2021. Population aged 16 to 64 who live in a private household.
4 SILC 2021. Population aged 16 to 64 who live in a private household. Persons who live in a household with no risk of poverty (threshold at 60% of the median equivalised household income).
5 SILC 2020. Population aged 16 to 64 living in a private household. Average score on a scale from 0 (-) to 10 (+).
6 SHS 2017. Persons aged 15 to 64 who live in a private household. Sources: SFO – Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (SILC), Swiss Health Survey (SHS)
About this topic
Persons with disabilities: Definition
Legal and institutional bases
In this topic, you can find the results made available to the public by the FSO regarding equality for persons with disabilities. These results are presented in two ways:
a) Equality indicators (access through the navigation panel on the left)
b) In-depth analyses (see Publications)
The indicators are presented in six topics. The complete results, given by degree of disability and by sex (sometimes also by age), are available in the tables to download at the bottom of each page.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), we refer to disability when a health condition affects the body functions or structures of a person (impairment), the capacity to execute activities (activity limitation) or the performance in the social environment (restriction of participation). Disability in that sense is not only a biological problem but also a social problem. It occurs when a person is not able to execute basic activities of human life or to fully participate in society, due to heath condition.
Definition used in the statistics on equality
The FSO defines "persons with disabilities as under the Disability Discrimination Act" as persons who have a long-standing health problem and who say they are limited (severely or not severely) in activities people usually do.
The federal law on equality for persons with disabilities (LHand in French) describes a disability as the limitations or restrictions which a person encounters in fully participating in social life as the result of an impairment or a long-term health problem. This definition is based on a social model of disability (I am unable to move freely) which is different to the individual/medical model (I am paraplegic).
In this model, it is the person themselves who can best say whether they are disabled or not.
See also Definitions.
Persons with disabilities according to other definitions
Persons with disabilities using a medical approach
(link to topic 14 Health > Health of the population - in French/German)
Persons with disabilities who are cared for in institutions
(link to topic 14 Health > Institutions spécialisées & Etablissements médico-sociaux - in French/German)
Recipients of pensions or other social benefits linked with disability
(link to topic 13 Social security > Disability insurance and pension funds – in French/German)
The Statistics on equality of people with disabilities is based on the Federal Statistics Act (FStatA), Art. 3,2d: “They [Federal statistical bodies] assist in: (…) d. the assessment of the fulfilment of the constitutional mandate to establish equal opportunities for men and women and for disabled and non-disabled people”.
The Federal Bureau for the Equality of People with Disabilities FBED is the federal office in charge of promoting equality and eliminating inequalities. See Links for website in German, French or Italian.
Further information
Statistical sources and concepts
Contact
Federal Statistical Office Sections Health Services, Population HealthEspace de l'Europe 10
CH-2010 Neuchâtel
Switzerland