This country comparison is a concise, tabular overview of numerous data from our respective country pages for Switzerland and Italy. There, we provide many explanations and details per country that go far beyond this comparison.
General information
| Switzerland | Italy | |
|---|---|---|
| Region: | Western Europe | Southern Europe |
| Area: | 41,290 km² | 301,340 km² |
| Official language: | German, French, Italian, Romansh | Italian |
| Government form: | Federal republic | Parliamentary republic |
| Capital: | Bern | Rome |
Population
Details for Switzerland and Italy
| Switzerland | Italy | |
|---|---|---|
| Population: | 8,776,000 | 58,940,000 |
| Inhabitants/km²: | 212.5 | 195.6 |
| Life expectancy males: | Ø 82 years | Ø 81 years |
| Life expectancy females: | Ø 86 years | Ø 85 years |
| Average age: | Ø 44.0 years | Ø 48.1 years |
| Birth rate: | 10.30 ‰ | 6.80 ‰ |
| Death rate: | 8.20 ‰ | 12.00 ‰ |
| Migrationrate: | 2.72 ‰ | 0.48 ‰ |
Quality of life
Values from 0 (bad) to 100 (very good)
See also: Explanations and country ranking on quality of life
| Switzerland | Italy | |
|---|---|---|
| Political stability: | 92 | 64 |
| Civil rights: | 99 | 66 |
| Health: | 91 | 84 |
| Climate: | 37 | 60 |
| Cost of Living: | 49 | 36 |
| Popularity: | 56 | 66 |
Economy
Details for Switzerland and Italy
| Switzerland | Italy | |
|---|---|---|
| Currency: | Swiss franc (1 CHF = 100 Rappen) | euro (1 EUR =100 Cent) |
| Unemployment rate: | 4.2 % | 8.1 % |
| Inflation rate: | 2.84 % | 8.20 % |
| Cost of Living: (USA = 100%) | 131.43 % | 75.70 % |
| Commercial taxes and contributions: | 28.80 % | 59.10 % |
| Average income: | 95,490 US$ | 38,200 US$ |
| Average wage: | 99,872 US$ | 34,071 US$ |
| Central government debt (% of GDP): | 14.40 % | 140.57 % |
| General government debt (% of GDP): | 39.12 % | 144.41 % |
| Corruption index: | 18 (good) | 44 (moderate) |
| CHE: total | per 1000 inh. | ITA: total | per 1000 inh. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross domestic product: | 818,427 M US$ | 93.26 M US$ | 2,049,737 M US$ | 34.78 M US$ |
| Gross national product: | 837,997 M US$ | 95.49 M US$ | 2,251,550 M US$ | 38.20 M US$ |
| Exported goods: | 627,540 M US$ | 71.51 M US$ | 751,092 M US$ | 12.74 M US$ |
| Imported goods: | 518,451 M US$ | 59.08 M US$ | 781,083 M US$ | 13.25 M US$ |
Infrastructure
Details for Switzerland and Italy
| CHE: total | per 1000 inh. | ITA: total | per 1000 inh. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roadways: | 83,131 km | 9.47 km | 228,863 km | 3.88 km |
| Railways: | 5,296 km | 0.60 km | 20,048 km | 0.34 km |
| Waterways: | 1,292 km | 0.15 km | 1,562 km | 0.03 km |
| Passenger airports: | 13 | 0.0015 | 55 | 0.0009 |
Energy balance
Details for Switzerland and Italy
| CHE: total | per 1000 inh. | ITA: total | per 1000 inh. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Production capacity: | 200,788.0 GWh | 22,879.84 MWh | 1,063,831.9 GWh | 18,049.27 MWh |
| Energy consumption: | 56,407.0 GWh | 6,427.59 MWh | 286,375.0 GWh | 4,858.72 MWh |
| Energy production: | 66,158.0 GWh | 7,538.72 MWh | 271,877.0 GWh | 4,612.74 MWh |
| Energy export: | 32,549.0 GWh | 3,708.97 MWh | 7,587.0 GWh | 128.72 MWh |
| Energy imports: | 26,988.0 GWh | 3,075.29 MWh | 39,787.0 GWh | 675.04 MWh |
| CO2 emissions: | 34.92 m t | 3,978.70 t | 281.29 m t | 4,772.39 t |
Telecommunication
Details for Switzerland and Italy
| Switzerland | Italy | |
|---|---|---|
| International dialing: | +41 | +39 |
| Internet domain: | .ch | .it |
| CHE total | CHE per 1000 inh. | ITA total | ITA per 1000 inh. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Landlines: | 2,918,500 | 333 | 19,982,393 | 339 |
| Mobile cellulars: | 10,450,200 | 1191 | 78,502,853 | 1332 |
| Internet users: | 8,386,939 | 956 | 50,135,165 | 851 |
| Broadband Internet: | 4,330,800 | 493 | 19,982,393 | 339 |
Healthcare system
Details for Switzerland and Italy
| Switzerland | Italy | |
|---|---|---|
| Hospital beds per 1000 inh.: | 4.63 | 3.14 |
| Physicians per 1000 inh.: | 4.44 | 4.13 |
| Rabies deaths: | 0.000 ‰ | 0.000 ‰ |
| HIV: | 0.50 ‰ | 0.40 ‰ |
| Tuberculosis: | 0.05 ‰ | 0.05 ‰ |
| Diabetes: | 4.6 % | 6.4 % |
| Smokers: | 25.5 % | 23.1 % |
Climate
We also provide a more detailed climate comparison of both countries.
The data for each country can be found here: Switzerland and Italy
| Switzerland | Italy | |
|---|---|---|
| Daytime temperatures: | 15.5 °C | 19.0 °C |
| Nighttime temperatures: | 6.6 °C | 11.2 °C |
| Water temperature: | 10.8 °C | 17.9 °C |
| Rel. humidity: | 76 % | 70 % |
| Rain days: | 9.8 | 6.5 |
| Sunshine hours per day: | 5.2 | 6.2 |
Maximum daily temperatures in comparison
Italy
Switzerland
Native languages
| Switzerland | Italy | |
|---|---|---|
| Italian: | 8.3 % | 94.1 % |
| German: | 62.5 % | 0.5 % |
| French: | 21.3 % | 0.5 % |
| Sardinian: | n/a | 2.7 % |
| Croatian: | 1.4 % | n/a |
| Albanian: | 1.3 % | 0.2 % |
| Portuguese: | 1.2 % | n/a |
| Friuli: | n/a | 1.2 % |
| Spanish: | 1.1 % | n/a |
| Romansh: | 0.5 % | n/a |
| Slovenian: | n/a | 0.2 % |
| Romany: | n/a | 0.2 % |
| other: | 2.4 % | 0.4 % |
Religions
| Switzerland | Italy | |
|---|---|---|
| Christianity: | 70.8 % | 91.6 % |
| Nondenominational: | 21.4 % | 5.8 % |
| Islam: | 4.9 % | 1.9 % |
| Buddhism: | n/a | 0.3 % |
| Judaism: | 0.2 % | 0.1 % |
| Hinduism: | n/a | 0.2 % |
| Sikhism: | n/a | 0.1 % |
| other: | 2.7 % | 0.0 % |
Data inventory and updates
A country comparison like this can be based on several hundred individual data items from dozens of different sources. All data are based on the most recent data available to us. Most of them refer to the previous year and are updated around March of the following year. If a country has not yet published data for the most recent or penultimate year, we present the most recent official data. Updates are made on an ongoing basis depending on the subject area or source, so there is no single "cutoff date" for this comparison. Sources for almost all data can be found on our respective country pages.
