How much does food cost per day in Switzerland? Grocery cost per person
The average food cost per day in Switzerland is about CHF 10 per person, for food eaten at home: CHF 638 per household per month ÷ 2.07 people ÷ 30.4 days (Federal Statistical Office, 2023, our calculation). People living alone need more: the 2025/26 guideline of Budgetberatung Schweiz works out at CHF 12 to 16 a day.
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Food cost per day in Switzerland averages about CHF 10 per person, for food eaten at home: CHF 638 per household per month (Federal Statistical Office, FSO, 2023) divided by 2.07 people and by 30.4 days. People who live alone need more per head, and the 2025/26 guideline figures of Budgetberatung Schweiz, the Swiss budget counselling association, allow about CHF 12 to 16 a day.
Updated October 2026. Sources: FSO, Household Budget Survey 2023 (press release, table) and tables by household type and major region; Budgetberatung Schweiz, budget examples 2025/26 (in German); Eurostat, price levels 2025 (viewed on 8 October 2026).
Key numbers
- A Swiss household spent on average CHF 638 a month on food and non-alcoholic drinks at home in 2023, with 2.07 people per household (FSO).
- On average, food at home costs about CHF 309 per person a month, CHF 10 a day and CHF 71 a week (FSO 2023, our calculation).
- People living alone and under 65 spent on average CHF 337 a month on food at home in 2018-2019, about CHF 11.10 a day (FSO, our calculation).
- The 2025/26 guideline of Budgetberatung Schweiz for one person is CHF 370 to 500 a month, or CHF 12 to 16 a day: a planning figure, not a measured average.
How much does food cost per day in Switzerland, per person?
About CHF 10 per person per day, averaged across all households. Food cost per person per day is the monthly spending on food and non-alcoholic drinks consumed at home, divided by the people in the household and the days in the month. In 2023 a household spent on average CHF 638 a month and had 2.07 members (FSO): about CHF 309 per person per month (unrounded FSO values), or about CHF 10 a day on a 30.4-day month (365 ÷ 12), our own calculation. For the whole month, see how much to budget for food each month.
Divide your own month by people and days: Rappn gives you the monthly total of your grocery receipts, sorted by category.
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Your spending
How much is food per person per day, week and month in Switzerland?
| Profile (CHF per person) | Per day | Per week | Per month |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swiss average (FSO, measured) | about 10 | about 71 | about 309 |
| Person living alone (guideline) | 12-16 | 85-115 | 370-500 |
| Person in a couple (guideline CHF 550-700 ÷ 2) | 9-12 | 64-81 | 275-350 |
| Person in a family with two children (guideline CHF 850-1'100 ÷ 4) | 7-9 | 49-64 | 213-275 |
Do not mix up the two figures: the FSO average is what households actually spent, the guideline is what to plan for. The guideline rises with net income, leaves out eating out, guests and alcohol, and adds CHF 50 to 100 a month for each child aged 12 or over. Whole-household amounts: grocery budget by household size; weekly: weekly grocery spending.
How much does food cost per day for a single person, a couple or a family?
| Household (FSO 2018-2019) | People | CHF per month | CHF per month per head | CHF per day per head | CHF per day per head, 2020-2021 (Covid years) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Person living alone, under 65 | 1 | 337 | 337 | 11.10 | 12.70 |
| Couple under 65, no children | 2 | 642 | 321 | 10.60 | 11.80 |
| Couple with children | 3.86 | 923 | 239 | 7.90 | 8.30 |
One person’s full monthly budget: single-person grocery budget. In Ticino a household spent CHF 559 a month for 2.09 people in 2018-2019, about CHF 8.80 per head per day (our calculation), the lowest of the seven major regions.
Supermarket food or eating out?
The CHF 10 covers only what is eaten at home. Eating and drinking out is a separate line: in 2023 a household spent on average CHF 427 a month on restaurants, bars, takeaways, canteens and meals at friends’ homes, about CHF 7 per person per day (FSO, our calculation). Restaurants and tourist budgets are not covered here.
For newcomers and cross-border commuters: see the Swiss price level compared with its neighbours, why groceries are so expensive in Switzerland and grocery shopping in Switzerland for expats.
How do you work out your own daily food cost?
The formula: monthly grocery spending ÷ people ÷ days.
- Collect one month of receipts: only food and non-alcoholic drinks, no cleaning products or alcohol, to match what the FSO counts.
- Add them up and divide by the people who eat at home. Lunches in a canteen lower the figure: that is normal.
- Divide by 30.4 for the day, or by 4.33 for the week.
- Compare with the right row of the table, not with the overall average.
Rappn gives you the month’s total. It is a free Swiss app (iOS and Android) that compares the current promotions of seven Swiss retailers and turns receipts into a spending overview. Start today: photograph the receipt from your next shop, upload it from your gallery or enter the purchase by hand. The app sorts your purchases into categories and shows your spending by month, next to your own monthly average; taking out cleaning products and alcohol, and dividing by people and days, is up to you. It covers only groceries, not rent, health insurance or taxes.
If you want your own figure rather than an average, the app also imports the receipts from the loyalty programmes of three big Swiss supermarkets, up to 12 months back, and you add the others by photo. You need a Rappn account and must be an adult; the terms of those programmes still apply and the operator can restrict the link (how linking works).
Updated: .
Why Rappn?
Rappn is an independent grocery price comparison app in Switzerland, with no commercial agreements with any retailer. Our comparisons are truly independent.
- 100% free: no subscription, no hidden costs
- Neutral: no commercial agreements with Migros, Coop, Aldi, Lidl, Denner, Aligro, or Otto’s
- Updated daily, as soon as the chains publish their deals
- The chains’ deals in one place: search, filter, compare, no subscription
- Meal planner in the Kitchen tab: plan the week, send the ingredients to your list
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Frequently Asked Questions
How much should I budget for food per day in Switzerland?
About CHF 10 per person per day if you go by the Swiss average: CHF 638 per household per month ÷ 2.07 people ÷ 30.4 days (Federal Statistical Office, 2023, our calculation). For planning, the 2025/26 guideline figures of Budgetberatung Schweiz, the Swiss budget counselling association, work out at about CHF 12 to 16 a day for a person living alone and about CHF 9 to 12 per person in a couple. Eating out, guests and alcohol come on top.
How much does a single person spend on food per day in Switzerland?
People living alone and under 65 spent on average CHF 337 a month in 2018-2019 (Federal Statistical Office), about CHF 11 a day. For planning, the Budgetberatung Schweiz guideline for a single person is CHF 370 to 500 a month (2025/26), about CHF 12 to 16 a day. The full monthly budget is in the single-person grocery budget guide.
How much does food cost in Switzerland for a tourist?
Food bought in a supermarket costs about CHF 10 per person per day on the Swiss average (Federal Statistical Office, 2023), a rough guide if you buy and prepare your own food. Restaurant meals cost more, and we give no restaurant figure without a source. For comparison, in 2025 the price level for food and non-alcoholic drinks in Switzerland was 155.9, with the EU average at 100 (Eurostat).
How do I work out how much I spend on food per day?
Add up one month of grocery receipts (only food and non-alcoholic drinks if you compare with the average), divide the total by the people who eat at home, then by 30.4 days (or by the days in that month). With the Swiss average the sum is CHF 638 ÷ 2.07 ÷ 30.4, about CHF 10 per person per day (Federal Statistical Office, 2023). For a week, divide the month by 4.33.
Does Rappn work out what I spend per day?
No, it gives you the month’s grocery total: you photograph a receipt, upload it from your gallery or enter the purchase by hand, and the free Rappn app sorts your purchases into categories and shows your spending by month, next to your own monthly average. Rent, health insurance and other budget lines are not included. For the daily figure, divide the monthly total yourself by the people who eat at home, then by 30.4 days.