Pay gap between top and lowest Swiss earners has grown, study finds

ZURICH, July 7 (Reuters) - The gap between high earners and low-paid workers in Switzerland has increased over the last decade, a trade union study published on Tuesday found.

While top earners have benefited from productivity gains, the lowest-paid have seen their wages fall in real terms, the study by the Swiss federation of trade unions SGB said.

Real wages for the top one percent of earners in Switzerland rose 16.8% between 2016 and 2024, compared with a 0.5% decline for the bottom 10 percent, the study showed.

For the earners in between the top 10 percent and the bottom 10 percent, wages stagnated, the SGB said.

During the years 2008-2016, the biggest percentage gains in wages went to the lowest 10 percent, it said.

Bosses and shareholders have benefited most thanks to high profits and dividends, the SGB said. At the other end of the scale, some wages have not kept up with inflation, it noted.

Women also continue to be paid less than men on average.

In 2024, half of the women in Switzerland earned less than about 5,000 Swiss francs ($6,200) a month. The equivalent group of men were earning at least 2,000 francs more than that, the study showed.

($1 = 0.8068 Swiss francs)

(Reporting by Marleen Kaesebier in ZurichEditing by Dave Graham)