swz_v_usa

Switzerland Versus the United States

	Switzerland	United States
Population	7,283,274	276,298,000
Life expectancy at birth	79.7 years	77.3 years
Gross Domestic Product	$207 billion (2000)	$9.9 trillion (2000)
Per capita GDP	$28,422	$36,200
Total income of lowest 10% of households as % of total income:	2.8% (1992)	1.8% (1997)
Total income of top 90% of households as % of total income:	25.2% (1992)	30.5% (1997)
Unemployment rate	1.9% (2000)	4.9% (2001)
% of energy from nuclear power:	35.4% (59.2% comes from hydroelectric plants)	19.8% (69.6% comes from fossil fuel, 8.3% from hydro power)
Electrical consumption:	66.768 billion KWH (1999)	3.45 trillion KWH
Per capita electrical consumption:	9,167 kilowatt hours per person	12,487 kilowatt hours per person
Military spending as a % of GDP:	1.2%	3.2%
Military dollar spending:	$3.1 billion (FY 98)	$276.7 billion (FY 99)
Per capita military spending:	$425 per person	$1,001 per person
Home ownership rate	30%	67%

The population of the United States is 37.9 times that of Switzerland.
The United States spends about 2.35 as much as Switzerland on the military when adjusted for population, about 2.66 as much when adjusted for size of the economy (GDP).
Although the United States enjoys a higher per capita GDP than Switzerland ($36,200 versus $28,422), Switzerland has a slightly less skewed income distribution:
the top 10% of households in Switzerland gained 25.2% of all income, versus 30.5% in the United States.
In both cases the lowest 10% earned only a small fraction of the total income - 2.8% in Switzerland versus 1.8% in the United States.
Life expectancy is comparable in both countries (79.7 years in Switzerland versus 77.3 years in the United States).
Switzerland is one of the only European countries with an unemployment rate lower than that of the United States (1.9% versus 3.9%)
The United States consumes about 36% more electricity per person than does Switzerland on a per capita basis (12,487 kilowatt hours per person versus 9,167).
Switzerland derives much more of its power consumption from nuclear power (35.4%) than does the United States (19.8%) but gets most of its power from hydroelectric plants, whereas the United States gets most of its power from fossil fuels.

Additional facts on Switzerland:

Military expenditures - dollar figure:

$3.1 billion (FY98)

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:

1.2% (FY98)

Exchange rates: Swiss francs per US dollar - 1.6303 (January 2001), 1.6888 (2000), 1.5022 (1999), 1.4498 (1998), 1.4513 (1997), 1.2360 (1996)

Exports - partners: EU 65.8% (Germany 22.6%, France 9.2%, Italy 8.0%, UK 5.5%, Austria 3.2%), US 12.4%, Japan 4.0% (1999)

Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 2.8%

highest 10%: 25.2% (1992)

Life expectancy at birth: total population: 79.73 years

male: 76.85 years

female: 82.76 years (2001 est.)