Swiss yearly health costs set to exceed EUR 8,490 per person: study

The average Swiss person will, for the first time, spend more than 10,000 Swiss francs (EUR 8,490) on health care in 2018 and again in 2019, an economic research institute said Wednesday.

KOF Swiss Economic Institute, part of the science and technology institute ETH Zurich, said this is due to the growing economy, given that, the more people earn, the more they spend on their health.

It also bases its calculations on the growing proportion of old people in the Swiss population.

It said that growing expenses related to health care in Switzerland are a major concern for price regulators.

Although growth in Swiss health care spending slowed slightly last year, it is likely to accelerate to 3.8 percent this year to almost 87 billion Swiss francs, KOF said in its twice-yearly health care expenditure forecast.

This equates to 10,131 Swiss francs for each inhabitant.

"In 2019, nominal wage growth is likely to accelerate, while the elderly population continues to increase," the report said.

"On the other hand, additional -- albeit modest -- cost savings are expected to come from the measures taken to shift health care more from inpatient to outpatient treatment," said KOF.

As a result, health care expenditure is likely to rise by 3.9 percent, the think tank said.

This would result in a total of more than 90 billion Swiss francs, or 10,429 francs per person in the country.

Overall, outpatient treatment is expected to grow faster than inpatient care over the coming years and, given the increasing number of people requiring care, the field of long-term care is likely to expand further, KOF said.

The growing economic significance of health care is also reflected in the levels of consumer spending.

"While health care accounted for only 10 percent of a representative basket of goods purchased by households back in 1993, now -- 25 years on -- it accounts for 15 percent," said KOF.

The proportion of people working in health care has also grown over this period and now stands at 7.1 percent, said the report.