Receipts

The social protection system's receipts are intended to cover expenditure on social benefits as well as administrative costs and other expenditure. The continual increase in receipts is a reflection of the continual increase in expenditure. Receipts may fluctuate temporarily, influenced by the ups and downs of the financial markets and the real economy. Occasional fluctuations may occur as a result of political intervention, such as the federal government's injection of capital into the unemployment insurance in 2020.

Social protection receipts in Switzerland between 1995 and 2022

	1995	2005	2015	2020p	2021p	2022e
CHF billion (at current prices)	116.8	154	212.5	259.3	253.3	257.4
CHF billion (at constant prices)	128.3	160.4	216.2	260.4	253.3	251.6
In CHF per capita (at constant prices)	18 300	21 600	26 200	30 300	29 200	28 800

p provisional
e estimated Source: Total social security accounts (TSSA), version 20.12.2023.

In Switzerland

Decline in federal contributions

As a reflection of the reduction in expenditure, receipts (i.e. the sources of funding for social protection) fell by CHF 1.6 billion between 2021 and 2022: total receipts amounted to CHF 251.6 billion. The decrease in receipts can mainly be attributed to the decline in federal contributions following a return to normal after the pandemic (- CHF 7.6 billion). At the same time, employers' social security contributions and property income gained in importance (+4.1 and +1.4 CHF billion respectively).

Funding based on social contributions

The Swiss social protection system is mainly funded by social contributions (65,8%). These include, by definition, employer social contributions (30,1%), the social contributions of protected persons (24,9%) and health insurance premiums (10,8%).

In order of importance, the second source of funding comes from public contributions (23,2%). These include contributions from the Confederation (10,0%) and cantonal and communal contributions (13,2%). Other receipts complete the funding of the system: these are mainly from property income (11,0%).

Funding sources vary widely between schemes. Public social insurances, such as the old-age and survivors’ insurance (OASI), the invalidity insurance (IV) and the unemployment insurance, are for the most part funded by social contributions and, to a lesser extent, by contributions from the Confederation. Based on the capital cover system, 24,7% of the occupational pension plan is funded by property income (housing stock, investment funds, etc.).

The contribution from the cantons is mainly allocated to the healthcare system (CHF 15,0 billion), to OASI and IV supplementary benefits (CHF 3,9 billion together), to economic social assistance (CHF 3,0 billion) and to the compulsory health insurance (CHF 2,8 billion).

Capital cover system:

The capital cover system (return on capital) is a method of funding social protection. For every insured person, contributions are invested in the capital market and paid out at retirement age. The other funding method is payroll deductions, in which current receipts cover current expenditure.

State transfers to non-profit organisations:

State transfers to non-profit organisations, as well as other transfers between schemes, are not shown in the graphic to avoid double counting with, for example, the receipts of the scheme for homes for people with a disability or the protection of young persons scheme. State transfers to non-profit organisations totalled CHF 6.7 billion, thus exceeding the volume of donations and other receipts (CHF 3.3 billion).

In Europe

Increase in social receipts in 2021

Year of data:

The 2022 data on social receipts for European countries will not be available until autumn 2024. For this reason, the following analyses concern the year 2021.

In 2021, the recovery in economic activity had a positive impact in several countries, including on social protection receipts and in particular on employers' and employees' social security contributions. In Italy, France and Austria, social security contributions rose by 5.8%, 5.4% and 3.2% respectively, compared with the previous year. In Germany, they remained fairly stable (+0.6%). In Switzerland, the effect of the economic recovery on social security contributions in 2021 cannot be seen, because in 2020 there was an exceptional peak in contributions, linked to salary payment covered in the event of illness and to one-off contributions by employers into occupational pension funds. Between 2020 and 2021, therefore, social security contributions in Switzerland fell by 2.8%.

Another important source of funding for social protection is public contributions. Most European countries saw an increase in public contributions in 2021: such was the case in Austria (+6.2%), France (+3.5%) and to a lesser extent, Germany (+0.6%). COVID-19 screening and vaccination campaigns in these countries probably contributed to this trend. This increase was offset by lower financial demands on unemployment benefits: in certain countries, such as Switzerland (-3.9%) and Italy (-3.3%), public contributions thus fell.

Diverse funding methods

The way in which the social protection system is funded in Europe varies from country to country. In the Scandinavian countries, as well as in Ireland and Italy, at least 50% of the volume of social benefits is government-funded. In other countries, social contributions predominate. The social contributions of protected persons (e.g. employee contributions) play a greater role in the countries of central Europe such as Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and even more so in Romania (64.6%). The proportion of other receipts exceeds the threshold of 10% in Iceland, Malta, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

The balance between receipts and expenditure:

The difference between income and expenditure (balance) cannot be interpreted as a gain or loss, as the TSSA includes both schemes based on the payroll principle (e.g. OASI or accident insurance) and schemes based on the capital cover principle (occupational pension plans). Furthermore, according to the accounting policies of the TTSA, the receipts of non-profit organisations and state schemes (except social insurance) are equal to expenditure. The balance between receipts and expenditure of the TTSA therefore has no particular significance.

Further information

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Other statistics on financial flows of social protection

National figures

Other statistics consider social protection funding in Switzerland from different angles.

• Total social insurance accounts (GRSV): The total social insurance accounts (GRSV) published by the Federal Social Insurance Office (FSIO) gives detailed information on expenditure and receipts for the nine main Swiss social insurances: AVS, AI, PC, PP, AMal, AA, APG, AC and AF.

• The financial statistics of social assistance in a broader sense (FSO): The financial statistics of social assistance in the broader sense (SF) provides an overview of all expenditure on social assistance benefits in the broader sense. These benefits are awarded by the Confederation, the cantons and the communes. The TSPA include these benefits, and as far as possible, use the SF as a source.

• Federal Finance Administration (FFA) financial statistics: the Federal Finance Administration (FFA) also presents the accounts of the Confederation, the cantons, the communes and the social insurances in international comparison.  

International surveys

The following statistics cover certain financial aspects of social security in both Switzerland and in international comparison. More information is available under "Statistical sources and concepts" (available in French, German or Italian).
 

• European system of integrated social protection statistics (ESSPROS)
  The FSO's TSSA are the implementation of the ESSPROS in Switzerland. This statistic is coordinated by Eurostat.

• Social Expenditures Database (SOCX)
  This statistic is compiled by the OECD in cooperation with Eurostat and shows expenditure on social security by the OECD member countries.

• Government expenditure by function
  This statistic is published by the OECD and is based on the IMF's international standards. It enables international comparison of public finances including public expenditure on social security.

• National Accounts
  This statistic shows a country's economic activities based on the European System of National Accounts (ESNA 2010). It can be used to determine the most important cash flows in relation to social security.

• System of Health Accounts (SHA)
  The System of Health Accounts (SHA) is a composite statistic concerning cash flows in the health sector.

Statistical sources and concepts

Surveys

Definitions