News

On 19 September 2026, Federal Councillor Karin Keller-Sutter will attend the informal meeting of the EU's Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) in Ireland. The purpose of the meeting is to promote exchanges on international financial and tax issues.

On 14 and 15 September, Federal Councillor Albert Rösti will attend the 70th General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, which runs until 18 September. As head of DETEC and Minister for Energy, he will represent Switzerland at the highest level.

Of the approximately 90 000 first upper secondary qualifications awarded each year, 12% are completed by adults aged 25 or over, who number nearly 11 000. Five years before receiving their qualification, only 60% had earned an income from employment, and this group is over-represented among households with a low net equivalised income from employment (27%). Five years after obtaining their qualification, their situation had improved markedly: their income was close to that of the general population of the same age (CHF 5 200 per month), their employment rate stood at 80%, and they were, overall, under-represented among households with a low equivalent net income (17%). These are the main findings of a new publication from the Federal Statistical Office (FSO).

The Producer and Import Price Index rose in August 2026 by 0.7% compared with the previous month, reaching 100.4 points (December 2025 = 100). In particular, petroleum products, chemical products, and petroleum and natural gas saw higher prices. Compared with August 2025, the price level of the whole range of domestic and imported products fell by 0.7%. These are the results of the Federal Statistical Office (FSO).

The International Space Summit, convened at the initiative of President Emmanuel Macron, was held in Paris on 9 and 10 September. High-level representatives from government, science, business, the military and civil society discussed shared visions and approaches to key issues raised by the growth in space activities. Switzerland was represented by State Secretary Martina Hirayama.

In August 2026 the consumer sentiment index stood at –33 points. This is 7 points higher than in August 2025. The following sub-indices are higher than in August 2025: economic outlook and past financial situation. The following sub-indices are lower than a year ago: financial outlook and moment to make major purchases.

Switzerland numbered a record 70 000 cultural organisations in 2024. This is 27% more than in 2011. By way of comparison, the number of enterprises in the economy as a whole grew by 16% in the same period. Nevertheless, the number of jobs in the cultural sector fell in 2024, as did the size of cultural organisations. These are some of the new findings from the Cultural Economy Statistics of the Federal Statistical Office (FSO).

The 32nd Economic and Environmental Forum focuses on how the anticipation of technological developments and the strengthening of science-based diplomacy can contribute to security and stability across the OSCE area. The aim is to support participating States in better preparing for current and emerging challenges.

Speech by State Secretary Alexandre Fasel at the OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum in Prague. Check against delivery

The Federal Intelligence Service (FIS) is publishing the Josef Mengele file held in the Swiss Federal Archives (SFA). The file is therefore now available to anyone interested. Certain passages have been redacted to protect sources and the personal data of third parties.

For the first time, Empa researchers, in collaboration with researchers from Eawag and Agroscope, have systematically investigated how much microplastic enters the environment in Switzerland via the atmosphere. The result: More than 200 tons of plastic particles contaminate soil and water bodies each year. Of this amount, about 40 percent end up on agricultural land and in lakes and rivers.

Every year, Swiss wastewater treatment plants release around 5 tonnes of microplastics into the environment. That is relatively little: It is estimated that around twice as many microplastic enters Swiss water bodies via the atmosphere. These figures come from the largest nationwide investigation to date on ultrafine plastic particles in the air, water and soil, a joint project by Eawag, Empa and Agroscope. These figures were made possible thanks to a new approach to sampling that yields significantly more reliable results than previous processes..