Politics: Citizen expectations related to government spending

Geneva, Switzerland – August 7th, 2025-Ipsos, one of the world's leading market research companies, unveiled earlier this year the results of its latest international survey on populism conducted in 31 countries. 

Following the first part, ‘Switzerland: An island of reason in a sea of populism?’, we now reveal citizens’ expectations regarding government spending. This study shows that, unlike other countries, including our closest neighbours, Swiss citizens are among the most fiscally conservative in the world, with particularly low support for increased government spending on infrastructure and defence.

Key findings include:

• Only 35% of the Swiss support increased infrastructure spending (roads, bridges, electricity, broadband). This is the lowest percentage among all 31 countries surveyed by Ipsos and significantly below the global average of 63%
• Swiss citizens also showed the lowest support (31%) for increased defence spending, compared to 60% in Germany, 53% in France, and 42% in Italy. This difference being most likely due to the longstanding neutrality stance of Switzerland.
• While fiscally more conservative, a majority of Swiss support increased spending
  • On healthcare (58%) but still among the lowest rates globally, with only Japan showing less support, and a global average at 76%
  • to reduce poverty and social inequality (56%), which is lower than both the global average (66%) and neighbouring Italy (71%) and Germany (64%), though higher than France (50%)
  • to create jobs (54%), which is significantly lower than most countries including Italy (74%) and Germany (71%), and only slightly higher than France (49%)
  • on education (e.g. schools, universities, job training) (50%) but notably less supportive than Germany (81%), Italy (76%), France (64%).
• Only 14% of Swiss agree that the government should increase taxes to pay for additional public spending, similar to neighbouring France (13%), Germany (14%), and Italy (14%). This is suggesting that the call for more spending is expected to be covered by other means than taxes.

Switzerland consistently ranks below European and global averages in support for increased government spending across almost all categories surveyed. "These findings reflect Switzerland's long tradition of fiscal prudence and preference for limited government intervention," says Laurent Depouilly, Ipsos Switzerland Country Manager. "While Swiss citizens clearly value social safety nets and healthcare, they show remarkable restraint in their expectations for government expansion compared to their European neighbours. This distinctive approach to public finance is deeply embedded in Swiss political culture."