Heat pumps now serve one in four Swiss residential buildings

One in four Swiss residential buildings had a heat pump in 2025, marking a sixfold increase from 2000 and a clear shift in the country’s heating market. The Federal Statistical Office data show that heat pumps are moving from a specialist choice into the mainstream of Swiss construction.

The change is especially visible in newer housing. Three-quarters of homes built during the past decade use a heat pump, making the technology the leading heating system in recent construction. New buildings therefore offer the clearest picture of where the market is heading, even as the wider housing stock changes more slowly.

The scale of the remaining challenge is substantial. Switzerland has approximately 1.8 million residential buildings, and oil still heats 33% of them. Gas accounts for another 17%. Together, those fuels serve about half of the building stock.

Heat pumps accounted for 25% of buildings, while wood supplied heat to 12% and electricity to 7%. The figures describe a housing system in transition, with replacement rates, renovation decisions and local infrastructure shaping how quickly older buildings move away from fossil fuels.

Oil remains the most common heating source in Switzerland, despite its long decline. It supplied heat to 33% of residential buildings in 2025, down from a much larger role four decades ago. Gas served 17%, while heat pumps reached 25%.

The building figures become less favourable when measured by households. Only 22% of Swiss households were heated by a heat pump in 2025. Fossil fuels still covered 58% of households, including 32% using oil and 25% using gas.

The gap comes from the structure of Swiss housing. A single apartment building can contain dozens of homes, so one gas or oil system may serve many households at once. Detached houses, by contrast, are more likely to have their own heating system. Heat pumps served 30% of detached houses, above the national building average.

This distinction matters for policy and for public understanding. A quarter of buildings with heat pumps does not mean a quarter of all Swiss homes have made the switch. Urban apartment blocks, older properties and shared heating systems remain major parts of the national transition.

Swiss heating choices vary sharply between urban and rural municipalities. Gas supplied heat to 29% of urban buildings, according to the Federal Statistical Office, but only 4% of rural buildings. The difference reflects the reach of gas networks, building density and the prevalence of shared heating systems in cities.

Rural areas contain more detached homes, where heat pumps are already installed in 30% of buildings. Owners replacing an individual oil boiler can make a direct technology choice, while apartment blocks often require agreement among owners, building-level investment and careful planning around existing energy infrastructure.

Canton-level heating patterns follow these wider geographic differences, although the source data show a varied national map rather than one uniform Swiss model. Construction age also plays a decisive role. In homes built within the last decade, heat pumps are used in 75% of buildings, a rate far above the overall building stock.

The figures point to different tasks in different places. New construction is rapidly adopting heat pumps. The harder work lies in older urban and suburban buildings, where replacing a shared fossil-fuel system can involve several households, major capital spending and changes to the building itself.

Switzerland sits in the middle of Europe’s heat pump market. The European Heat Pump Association counted 168 installed heat pumps per 1,000 Swiss households in 2024. That placed Switzerland well behind Norway, with 632 per 1,000, Finland at 524 and Sweden at 496.

Several countries also recorded higher adoption, including Estonia at 351, Denmark at 217 and France at 204. Switzerland remained ahead of Italy at 160, Austria at 127, Spain at 87 and the Netherlands at 79. Germany recorded 54, while Britain had just 19 heat pumps per 1,000 households.

Switzerland’s position looks less favourable when the energy source is examined. Oil and petroleum products provided approximately 28.1% of space-heating energy in Switzerland in 2024, compared with 12.7% across the European Union. Oil use was far lower in Sweden and the Netherlands, at 0.8%, and in Finland, at 1.3%.

The comparison shows both progress and unfinished work. Switzerland has moved beyond several European neighbours on heat pump installations, yet its heating system still depends heavily on oil.

The next phase will be decided by existing buildings, not only new construction. Heat pumps already dominate homes built during the past decade, but oil and gas continue to heat about half of Switzerland’s residential buildings. Replacing that equipment will determine how quickly the national building stock decarbonises.

The household data underline the scale of the task. 58% of households still depended on fossil fuels in 2025, even though heat pumps had reached a quarter of buildings. In cities, shared gas systems can concentrate many households around a single heating installation. In rural areas, detached homes offer more direct replacement choices, but owners still face questions about insulation, electricity connections, costs and available installers.

Switzerland also has an unusually high dependence on oil for space heating compared with the European Union. The country used oil and petroleum products for roughly 28.1% of space-heating energy in 2024, more than twice the EU average of 12.7%.

The latest figures establish a clear direction. New Swiss homes are largely choosing heat pumps, while the older building stock remains the decisive test for energy policy, renovation investment and household decisions over the coming years.