How much does tobacco use cost Switzerland?

This interactive infographic reveals the cost

CHF 0

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This red bar represents the size of a billion CHF.

Tobacco consumption leads to health care costs in Switzerland of 6.1 billion CHF per year. CHF 3 billion through direct costs to the health care system and CHF 3.1 billion in indirect costs and production losses incurred.

CHF 3 billion through direct costs to the health care system and CHF 3.1 billion in indirect costs and production losses incurred.

Let's put the 6.1 billion into context and make comparisons.

Average price of a pack of cigarettes
in Switzerland (CHF 7.-)

Now comes the second billion

Nearly at the end of the second billion

Not really. We're barely halfway

Average price of a pack of cigarettes
in Australia (CHF 30.-)

1 day of skiing in the Jungfrau region of the Bernese Oberland (CHF 80.-)

Annual cost of consuming a pack of cigarettes a day (CHF 2,555.-)

Cost of a second-class adult GA Travelcard (CHF 3,860.-)

Treatment of advanced or metastasized non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) for 12 months with the drug TECENTRIQ from Roche Pharma (CHF 92,174.-)

Cost of a child up to the age of 20 in Switzerland CHF 190,000.-

Purchase price of an ambulance (CHF 260,000.-)

We have reached the third billion.

Keep scrolling

Cost of medical studies (CHF 642,000.-)

4-room apartment in the city of Bern (CHF 795,000.-)

Annual budget of the Tobacco Prevention Fund (CHF 13.6 million).

Fourth billion. Yes, 4 billion CHF are quite a bit…

Cost of an F-35 military aircraft (CHF 140 million).

Estimated wealth of Roger Federer (CHF 440 million)

Construction costs for the Roche Tower in Basel (CHF 550 million)

Fifth billion CHF

Do you still have strength?

Sixth billion CHF

It’s not over yet.

Finally, the salary of a nurse after 20 years of work (1.7 million CHF). With one billion CHF, 580 more nursing staff could be financed for 20 years.

Switzerland is facing an annual loss of at least 6.1 billion CHF, due tobacco consumption.

Seventh billion CHF.

A study in the United States found that e-cigarette users were more likely to have poorer health than non-smokers. The cost of care for people who smoke electronic cigarettes exclusively totals USD 15 billion per year (Wang, Sung, Lightwood, et al. (2022)).

A person who smokes electronic cigarettes generates USD 2000 in additional health costs compared to a person who consumes neither nicotine products nor tobacco. This figure rises for consumption of both tobacco and other nicotine products. E-cigarette sales are also growing exponentially in Switzerland. AT-Switzerland projected a sales increase of 2200% in 2022 (Ruggia, 2022).

This infographic does not include the environmental costs of e-cigarette and tobacco use (littering, production, water pollution, the use itself). The estimation of environmental costs is a complex process with many variables. AT-Switzerland estimates costs in the billions of dollars.

The content of this infographic comes from the following sources:

^{_{[11] https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/de/home/statistiken/gesundheit/kosten-finanzierung.html}}
^{_{[12] https://www.handelszeitung.ch/panorama/roger-federer-lionel-messi-diese-sportstars-verdienten-laut-forbes-dieses-jahr-am-meisten-544035}}
^{_{[13] https://architekturbasel.ch/top-of-switzerland-roche-bau-2-ist-eroeffnet/}}
^{_{[14] https://www.srf.ch/news/schweiz/kampfjet-beschaffung-ist-der-f-35-wirklich-der-billigste-jet}}
^{_{[15] Megan, Jacobs (2022): How much does vaping cost individuals and employers. The Ex Program. https://www.theexprogram.com/resources/blog/how-much-does-vaping-cost-individuals-and-employers/}}
^{_{[16] Jahresbericht 2021 TPF (PDF)}}
^{_{[17] TECENTRIQ, Roche Pharma, (PDF)}}
^{_{[18] https://www.at-schweiz.ch/news-medien/news?id=132&AT-Blog-Brandgefhrlich-Die-Verkaufszahlen-der-Einweg-E-Zigaretten-explodieren}}
^{_{[19] Wang Y, Sung H, Lightwood J, et alHealthcare utilisation and expenditures attributable to current e-cigarette use among US adultsTobacco Control Published Online First: 23 May 2022. doi: 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2021-057058}}

How much does tobacco use cost Switzerland?

This interactive infographic reveals the cost

This red bar represents the size of a billion CHF.

Tobacco consumption leads to health care costs in Switzerland of 6.1 billion CHF per year. CHF 3 billion through direct costs to the health care system and CHF 3.1 billion in indirect costs and production losses incurred.

CHF 3 billion through direct costs to the health care system and CHF 3.1 billion in indirect costs and production losses incurred.

Let's put the 6.1 billion into context and make comparisons.

Average price of a pack of cigarettes in Switzerland (CHF 7.-)

Now comes the second billion

Nearly at the end of the second billion

Not really. We're barely halfway

Average price of a pack of cigarettes in Australia (CHF 30.-)

1 day of skiing in the Jungfrau region of the Bernese Oberland (CHF 80.-)

Annual cost of consuming a pack of cigarettes a day (CHF 2,555.-)

Cost of a second-class adult GA Travelcard (CHF 3,860.-)

Treatment of advanced or metastasized non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) for 12 months with the drug TECENTRIQ from Roche Pharma (CHF 92,174.-)

Cost of a child up to the age of 20 in Switzerland CHF 190,000.-

Purchase price of an ambulance (CHF 260,000.-)

We have reached the third billion.

Keep scrolling

Cost of medical studies (CHF 642,000.-)

4-room apartment in the city of Bern (CHF 795,000.-)

Annual budget of the Tobacco Prevention Fund (CHF 13.6 million).

Fourth billion. Yes, 4 billion CHF are quite a bit…

Cost of an F-35 military aircraft (CHF 140 million).

Estimated wealth of Roger Federer (CHF 440 million)

Construction costs for the Roche Tower in Basel (CHF 550 million)

Fifth billion CHF

Do you still have strength?

Sixth billion CHF

It’s not over yet.

Finally, the salary of a nurse after 20 years of work (1.7 million CHF). With one billion CHF, 580 more nursing staff could be financed for 20 years.

Switzerland is facing an annual loss of at least 6.1 billion CHF, due tobacco consumption.

Seventh billion CHF.

A study in the United States found that e-cigarette users were more likely to have poorer health than non-smokers. The cost of care for people who smoke electronic cigarettes exclusively totals USD 15 billion per year (Wang, Sung, Lightwood, et al. (2022)).

This infographic does not include the environmental costs of e-cigarette and tobacco use (littering, production, water pollution, the use itself). The estimation of environmental costs is a complex process with many variables. AT-Switzerland estimates costs in the billions of dollars.

Average price of a pack of cigarettes
in Switzerland (CHF 7.-)

Average price of a pack of cigarettes
in Australia (CHF 30.-)