This is how much money is donated annually in Switzerland

Especially in the run-up to Christmas, more and more donation letters are landing in our mailboxes. Many aid organizations are advertising again and the conversion actions on the street make you feel guilty every day. No wonder, as the Christmas period is the most popular time of year for donations.

Every year the Zewo Foundation publishes the Swiss donation statistics in collaboration with the University of Freiburg. This shows that donations have increased annually since the corona pandemic. For the third time in a row, more than two billion francs were donated. In 2022 there was even a new record year. Last year, approximately 2.5 billion francs in donations were collected. This is partly due to international events such as the war in Ukraine.

Over the years, the money donated has steadily increased. In 2005, there was a year in which many more donations were made than previous years due to the tsunami in Southeast Asia. Due to the annually increasing donations, higher total amounts have been achieved since 2013 than in 2005.

Donations from Ukraine amounting to 418 million francs contributed largely to last year’s record donations. But there were also winners and losers, because not all aid organizations received more money. Donations for international aid abroad have risen sharply in 2022, while donations for social security and health care at home have stagnated. 96 percent of Ukrainian donations went to Swiss Solidarity and ten other major aid organizations.

About 500 organizations have the Zewo quality seal. Of the 2.5 billion francs in donations that aid organizations received in total in 2022, 1.51 billion went to aid organizations with this seal. The evaluation shows that most of the money donated (53 percent) comes from private households. According to these figures, a household spends on average around 200 francs per year on donations. Swiss donation statistics do not provide information about which organization received how much money.

In recent years it has become apparent that donations are becoming increasingly digital. Twint is especially popular as a means of payment. In the past four years, transaction volume has increased fivefold. Four years ago, 22 million francs were donated digitally. Last year, according to Zewo’s statistics, the amount rose to 117 million francs.

The Charities Aid Foundation surveys tens of thousands of people in different countries every year about their donation behavior. According to this survey, Switzerland can describe itself as generous, as 56 percent of all people in Switzerland say they regularly donate to charities.

Indonesia ranks first in the World Giving Index. Second place goes to Ukraine and third place is Kenya. Switzerland ranks 56th worldwide. Poland has the worst World Giving Index, i.e. answers to the three key questions with the lowest average.

Moreover, most people in Myanmar indicated that they had donated money (83 percent). This was followed by Indonesia (82 percent), England (70 percent) and Ukraine (70 percent). The willingness to donate in Myanmar mainly comes from the Theravada Buddhist community. There, giving is one of the integral parts of Buddhism.

The people in Morocco are the stingiest: only two percent say they donate. Greece and Tunisia are also not exactly generous at six percent.