Credit Suisse Worry Barometer 2020. What the Swiss are concerned about.

When asked what consequences of the coronavirus pandemic will still be felt in Switzerland three years from now, 78 percent of respondents indicate that they expect to see higher unemployment numbers, and 59 percent anticipate an unfavorable impact on retirement provision. This suggests that overall, the pandemic is a major factor in people's worries in 2020. Most people also expect there to be negative effects on tourism in Switzerland, on the monitoring of Swiss citizens and on the country's export economy until 2023.

When the coronavirus pandemic broke out in the spring of 2020, it laid bare the vulnerability of today's globalized society and its global production processes and supply chains. The crisis is providing a new perspective on what security means in today's world. When asked about the crucial aspects of Switzerland's security, respondents mention most frequently a secure energy supply (an average of 8.1 points on a scale of 0 to 10), self-sufficiency in medical products (8.0) and a reliable supply of goods (7.9), all of which are aspects of supply security. This is in keeping with the fact that a large majority (87 percent) is somewhat or fully in agreement with the idea that certain production processes – for example for medical products or spare parts – should be brought back to Switzerland with government support, which would increase supply security, even if this is not cost-effective.

After a sharp decline in trust in practically every administrative and political institution last year, confidence is increasing somewhat in 2020. For the third time in a row, the police force enjoys the highest level of trust of all of the institutions included in the survey (70 percent of the respondents say that they trust the police). Ranking second, for the first time, is the Federal Council (68 percent, a striking increase of 18 percentage points). Confidence has also increased in the Federal Assembly (Council of States: 51 percent, +7 pp; National Council: 48 percent, +8 pp) and public administration (48 percent, +8 pp). During the coronavirus crisis, the Swiss army has been mobilized to a level not seen since World War II. Yet in contrast to the increased confidence enjoyed by the Federal Council, the deployment of the Swiss armed forces to combat the crisis has not been reflected in a higher level of trust. On the contrary: Trust in the army (48 percent) is at its lowest level since 2012. Confidence in the church (21 percent), the EU (19 percent) and free newspapers (17 percent) remains low.

At the time of the survey in July and August 2020, a majority (65 percent) of voters described their personal economic circumstances as good or very good, while another 27 percent described them as satisfactory. Overall, this is a slight improvement over 2019. Looking forward, a clear majority (81 percent) of voters remain optimistic that they will be able to maintain (68 percent) or exceed (13 percent) their current level of well-being. It is striking, though, that there has been a significant increase since 2019 in the percentage of people who expect their personal economic circumstances to worsen or who express uncertainty about their future situation, from 13 percent to 19 percent. This is the highest percentage since this question was added to the survey in 1995. Similarly, a larger share of respondents than ever before (11 percent) is worried about losing their jobs in the next 12 months. This percentage, while still relatively low, is twice as high as in 2012.