Swiss gender pay gap narrows to a new low

Women earned 15.7% less than men in 2024, the smallest average difference recorded in Switzerland. The figure, published by the Federal Statistical Office, marks a further decline from 16.2% in 2022, continuing a trend that has reduced the national gap from 19.0% in 2018 and 18.0% in 2020.

The calculation covers the Swiss economy across both private and public employers. It uses gross monthly wages standardised to a full-time workload, allowing the statistics to compare employees working different hours. The measure captures the difference between average earnings for women and men, while also reflecting the occupations, industries, seniority levels and employment patterns in which they work.

That distinction matters in Switzerland, where women and men remain unevenly represented across sectors and leadership positions. Pay differences generally widen with seniority, and women are more likely to take career breaks or work part time, often in response to childcare responsibilities. The headline number therefore describes the overall labour market, rather than a single act of unequal pay.

The new low gives policymakers and employers a clear measure of progress. It also leaves a sizeable difference across the economy, with the largest gaps concentrated in particular industries and at higher levels of management.

The adjusted gap fell to 6.5%, down from 7.0% in 2022. This is the portion that remains after the FSO accounts for observable characteristics such as education, professional experience, tenure, occupation, industry and seniority. In cash terms, the difference averaged CHF 640 per month, compared with CHF 657 two years earlier.

The residual is often called the unexplained gap. It identifies a difference between women and men with otherwise comparable recorded characteristics, but it does not provide a direct measure of discrimination. The data do not fully capture individual productivity, detailed job responsibilities, negotiation behaviour, language skills, additional training, management experience or the precise demands of a role.

Statistical assumptions and model design can also affect the result. A lower unexplained share is therefore meaningful as an indicator, while requiring careful interpretation. Swiss law prohibits paying a woman less solely because she is a mother, but career interruptions, reduced working hours or a move into a lower-paid role can affect experience and earnings without automatically constituting unlawful discrimination.

The adjusted figure gives employers a sharper area for review. It directs attention beyond broad workforce averages to recruitment, promotion, salary-setting practices and the way roles are evaluated inside individual organisations.

Finance and insurance recorded a 30.6% gap, nearly four times the 7.9% reported in hotels and restaurants. The private-sector average fell only modestly, from 17.5% in 2022 to 17.2% in 2024, masking major differences between industries.

Retail posted a 16.9% gap, while machinery manufacturing recorded 17.2%. The spread shows why a single national figure cannot describe the experience of every Swiss worker. Industries differ in their pay structures, occupational mix, access to management roles, bonus systems and patterns of part-time work. The composition of each workforce can influence the overall comparison before individual salaries are examined.

The public sector showed a stronger improvement. Across the federal government, cantons and municipalities, the average gap fell to 12.8% in 2024, down from 13.8% in 2022, 15.1% in 2020 and 18.1% in 2018. Public employers operate within more formalised salary classifications and recruitment frameworks, although substantial differences remain among occupations and levels of responsibility.

For Swiss companies, the industry figures point to a practical task: examine pay within comparable roles, then investigate who reaches the best-paid positions. National progress can coexist with persistent gaps in sectors where promotion, bonuses and seniority carry the greatest financial weight.

Senior women faced a 12.4% unexplained gap, compared with 6.1% for employees without management responsibilities. The senior-management figure increased from 10.6% in 2022, making leadership one of the clearest pressure points in the latest data.

Company size produced a different pattern. In firms with fewer than 20 employees, the unexplained gap rose slightly to 8.6%, from 8.4% in 2022. At companies with at least 1,000 employees, it fell to 5.8%, compared with 6.8% two years earlier. Larger organisations may have more formal salary bands, internal audits and human-resources systems, although the statistics do not establish why the gap differs by company size.

Education also shaped the result. Employees with a degree from a university of applied sciences or a teacher-training college recorded an unexplained gap of 3.8%, the lowest among the education groups cited by the FSO. Among workers who had completed vocational training, the figure was 6.6%.

These patterns put promotion and pay-setting processes under scrutiny. A company may show a relatively narrow average gap while women remain underrepresented in the most senior roles. Conversely, a broad industry gap may partly reflect different occupations and levels of experience. Employers need both workforce-wide monitoring and role-by-role comparisons to identify where differences emerge.

The unexplained gap rose from 2.2% among workers under 30 to 8.3% among those over 50. Marital status showed a similar divide: 2.7% among unmarried employees compared with 8.1% among married employees. The figures suggest that career paths, family responsibilities and time away from paid work accumulate in earnings over decades.

Motherhood may be one factor. Career interruptions, part-time employment and slower promotion can reduce earnings growth, while a return to work may involve a change of employer or a move into a role with more predictable hours and lower pay. Research cited in the source material has identified a 3.7% motherhood gap in one study comparing mothers with childless women.

The FSO data cannot determine how much of the age and marital-status differences result from motherhood, discrimination, occupation or other factors. They also cannot separate every personal choice from the constraints surrounding that choice. A worker who accepts lower pay for greater flexibility may be making a rational decision within the options available, while the resulting career penalty can still shape lifetime earnings.

Switzerland’s falling national average is therefore one part of the story. The next test lies in whether employers can reduce the remaining differences in senior roles, support career continuity after family leave and make salary decisions more transparent without treating the statistical residual as a definitive finding of unlawful conduct.