Switzerland has a stable three-level government system consisting of federal, cantonal, and communal levels. It has a modern economy focused on services and industry with a very high GDP per capita and low unemployment and inflation rates. The population is highly educated with four official languages and a mix of religious groups. Switzerland invests heavily in research and development and has a dense rail network and internet usage.

1. PESTLE Analysis of
Switzerland
Mohd Haris
Department of pharmaceutical management
NIPER Hyderabad

2. • The country is situated in western and central Europe.
• Bern is the capital city of Switzerland.
• There are 26 member states of the federation of Switzerland which
are known as “canton”.
• Zurich is considered to be the economic capital city of Switzerland.

3. POLITICAL ANALYSIS
• Switzerland’s government, parliament and courts are organized on three levels:
Federal
Cantonal (based on 26 cantonal constitutions)
Communal (for small villages)
• The federal constitution covers the areas of foreign relations, the army, tariffs, value added
taxes, and the legislation on currency, railways, and communications to the confederation
• Cantons and some major cities do control armed police forces, run hospitals and universities.
• Executive power is exercised by the government and the federal administration and is not
concentrated in any one person
• Switzerland’s government is a team consisting of seven members with equal rights therefore,
president, vice-president are elected by the federal assembly from among the seven members
of the federal council for a period of one year

4. ECONOMICAL ANALYSIS
• Country has got a very stable and modern economy
• GDP of the country : $371.2 billion (2013 est.) which represents 1.05 percent of the world
economy with a growth rate of 1.7%
• Major source of country’s GDP are from service sector(72.5%) and industry sector 27%
• The gross domestic product per capita in Switzerland was last recorded at 55,485.60 US
dollars in 2013 which equivalent to 448% of world’s average.
• Inflation rate : -0.4%
• Unemployment rate is estimated to be 2.9%
• Country stands at rank 28th in terms of ease of doing business from other countries of the
world
• 1 Swiss franc = 1.06 US dollar
• Exports are estimated at 308.4 billion and imports at 287.7 billion

5. SOCIAL ANALYSIS
• People in Switzerland are highly educated and modern and stands at 2nd in quality of life
index
• Ethnic groups: Germans 65%, French 18%, Italian 10%, Romansh 1%, others 6%.
• Country has four official languages: German, French, Romansh, and Italian
• Religions: Roman catholic 38.2%, Protestant 26.9%, Muslims 4.9%, other Christian 5.7%, other
1.6%, none 21.4%, unspecified 1.3%
• It has a population of about 8 million about 25% of it are foreigners
• Population growth rate: 0.78% among which about 43% is between 25-54 and 17% are above
6.
• Life expectancy at birth: 82.3
• Switzerland is considered to be “the best place in the world to be born” according to the
economist intelligence unit.

7. TECHNOLOGICAL ANALYSIS
• The country is poor in natural resources but high in R&D which
constitutes 2.9% to country’s GDP
• Every 12th person in 1000 is in R&D i.e. about 45%
• People of Switzerland are very active in E-markets and E-banking
• They have the most dense rail network in the whole Europe
• Out of very 100 people 97 are computer users and 76 are internet users
• Country is growing fast in chocolate manufacturing and supplying the
whole world

8. LEGAL ANALYSIS
• A tax heaven nation(each canton has its own taxes)
• Swiss citizenship: birth, marriage
• Health insurance is compulsory in the country
• Effective anti corruption measures
• Intellectual property rights are respected, and enforcement is consistent
with world standard
• Country is open to foreign investment and the investment code is
transparent and efficiently administered
• The overall tax burden equals 29.8% of the total domestic income

9. ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS
• 31% of the Swiss territory comprises of woodland
• Massive biodiversity
• Natural resources: timber , salt etc.
• Country stands among the top 5 countries in terms of environmental
performance index
• Electricity generated in Switzerland is 56% from hydroelectricity and 39%
from nuclear power
• Swiss are one of the top recyclers in the world, with 66% to 96% of
recyclable materials being recycled.

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