Monthly fixed costs in Switzerland: the full list with official averages

Fixed costs are the expenses that come back every month, or every year divided by twelve, in the same or almost the same amount, because a contract or a law sets them: housing, health insurance, taxes, insurance, phone and internet, the Serafe fee, transport. If you add up the lines of the Household Budget Survey 2023 of the Federal Statistical Office (BFS, in English FSO), housing and energy, taxes, social insurance contributions and the basic health insurance premium together cost the average household CHF 4'445 (Swiss francs) a month, or 43.0% of gross income (our calculation).

Updated October 2026. Sources: FSO (BFS), Household Budget Survey 2023 (press release of 17 November 2025, in German, French and Italian) and detail table T20.02.01.02.01; Budgetberatung Schweiz, budget examples 2025/26, in German; Serafe; BAG (Federal Office of Public Health), press release on 2027 premiums, in German (viewed on 13 October 2026).

What are the monthly fixed costs of a Swiss household?

A fixed cost comes back at regular intervals in a predictable amount, because it rests on a contract, a recurring bill or a legal duty, and you pay it even in months when you use less. In a Swiss household it usually belongs to one of these ten groups:

• Housing: rent or mortgage interest, ancillary costs (Nebenkosten) and energy, meaning electricity and heating.
• Health insurance: the basic premium, compulsory for everyone resident in Switzerland (KVG art. 3), and any supplementary insurance.
• Other insurance: household contents, personal liability, legal expenses, vehicles.
• Taxes and social contributions: advance payments or the yearly tax bill; AHV (state pension), pension fund and other contributions, usually deducted from your salary.
• Serafe fee: the Swiss radio and TV fee, one per household, usually invoiced once a year.
• Transport: a Half Fare card (Halbtax), a GA travelcard or a regional pass, or car leasing, parking and vehicle tax.
• Phone and internet: landline, mobile and TV.
• Other subscriptions: streaming, newspapers, gym, clubs.
• Children: nursery, after-school care, school fees.
• Instalments: loans, leasing and any other commitment with a fixed instalment.

Groceries, restaurants, clothes and leisure are not fixed costs: you decide how much to spend each time.

How much do fixed costs weigh on average?

These are averages of all households (2.07 people): net rent and mortgage interest lump tenants and owners together, and your household can differ a lot (see the average household expenses in Switzerland). The radio and TV row is not the amount Serafe invoices, and it stays outside the CHF 4'905 because the FSO counts it under recreation and culture.

The FSO figures are from 2023 and per household, while premiums change every year: on 29 September 2026 the BAG announced an average monthly premium for 2027 of CHF 412 per insured person (+5.0%) and of CHF 487.60 per adult; yours depends on canton, age, deductible, insurer and model. The deadlines for changing are in the biggest household expenses.

Fixed and variable costs: where do groceries belong?

Groceries are a variable cost: how much you spend is your decision, week after week. According to the FSO, a household spent on average CHF 638 a month in 2023 on food and non-alcoholic drinks at home (6.2% of gross income). Budgetberatung Schweiz also keeps groceries out of the fixed costs: its 2025/26 examples give CHF 370 to 500 a month for a single person, 550 to 700 for a couple and 850 to 1'100 for a family with two children, depending on net income (planning values, not measured averages).

Between fixed and variable sit the mixed costs, such as energy, transport and health expenses (premium fixed, deductible and co-payment variable), and the irregular but predictable expenses, such as the dentist or gifts: Budgetberatung Schweiz lists them as provisions (Rückstellungen) and puts them into the budget as a monthly amount.

For a quick check many people use the 50-30-20 rule (50% of net income for needs), an international rule of thumb and not a Swiss standard. In the three monthly budget examples from Budgetberatung Schweiz, the fixed costs (housing, taxes, basic health insurance, household contents and liability insurance, phone, internet, TV and Serafe, electricity, public transport) already take between 54 and 58% of net income without the 13th salary (our calculation: 2'710 of 5'000, 3'450 of 6'000, 3'830 of 7'000); the FSO measures against gross income instead, so the two percentages cannot be compared.

Checklist: which fixed costs should you review once a year?

The formula: fixed costs per month = monthly amounts + (quarterly amounts ÷ 3) + (yearly amounts ÷ 12). For your share of income, divide the total by your monthly net income, as the Budgetberatung Schweiz examples do, without the 13th salary. Notice periods and levers: see the guide to reducing fixed costs.

How to put fixed costs and groceries in order

1. Collect the documents: lease, policies, last tax bill, Serafe invoice, phone and subscription contracts.
2. Write down every line of the checklist with its amount and how often you pay it.
3. Convert everything into a monthly amount with the formula above and add it up.
4. Compare the total with your net income in a household budget template.
5. Measure your groceries for one month on real receipts instead of estimating them.

Rappn, a free Swiss app (iOS and Android) that compares the current promotions of seven Swiss retailers and turns receipts into a spending overview, helps with the last step: you photograph a receipt, upload it from your gallery or enter a purchase by hand, and the app sorts your purchases into categories and shows your spending by month, next to your own monthly average; you can export your receipts as PDF or CSV. Rappn covers groceries only: rent, insurance and taxes stay outside the app. Rappn is building an AI assistant for groceries: you can join the waitlist.