Germany vs Switzerland (Best Country to Live, Work and Retire)

00:00 Intro

01:07 Overall differences

-Both Germany and Switzerland are countries in the Western part of Europe, but already in its Geography, the differences start.
-While Germany is a much larger country in area, and has a population of 83 million people, Switzerland is not only much smaller, but also a landlocked country, and its population is just above 8.5 million inhabitants, almost 10 times less than Germany.
-Germany is a founding member of the European Union and the country with the highest GDP in the bloc. Switzerland on the other hand is not part of the European Union and has no intentions to join it. Germany obviously uses the euro as its currency and is very glad that other countries use it as well, while Switzerland has its own currency, the Swiss franc.

02:00 Job Market

Both Switzerland and Germany have a relatively low unemployment rate, but Switzerland has a little advantage over Germany, as the unemployment rate in the country is slightly lower than the one in its neighbor to the north.
The sharpest difference between getting a job in these two countries are seen in salaries. Salaries in Switzerland are usually much higher than in Germany, and taxes are lower. The average net salary in Frankfurt is slightly above 3000 (3200) euros per month, while in Zurich it is around 7000 euros per month.

03:00 Cost of Living

-The cost of living in Switzerland and Germany is significantly different. Pretty much like salaries, we can see an overall higher cost of living in cities and towns in Switzerland when compared to similarly sized places in Germany.
-Everything is significantly more expensive in Switzerland, including groceries and services. But, probably the aspect of cost of living in which the average resident can feel the sharpest differences are real estate rentals.

03:40 Real Estate

-Following the cost of living let’s dive a little bit more in the real estate market of these two countries.
-As I have just mentioned, real estate prices in Switzerland are much higher than in Germany, although the sharpest difference is when it comes to renting properties.
-So if you are renting an apartment in Zurich or Geneva for example, you can expect a higher price per square meter (or feet) than in any other city in Germany. Depending on the cities you are comparing, rentals can be as high as 40% more than in Germany, considering similarly sized cities.

04:25 Visa, Residence Permits and Citizenship

Both countries are in the Schengen area, so if you don’t need a visa to enter Germany, in almost all cases you will not need a visa to enter Switzerland.
If we talk about actually living in one of these countries, things are slightly more complicated. Germans can live in Switzerland, and Swiss citizens can live in Germany. The amount of freedom in these two countries is also very high if you are a citizen from the European Economic Area.
If you are a citizen of a third country, then it is difficult to get a residence permit in both Germany and Switzerland.
The only category that in Switzerland is slightly easier to get a residence permit compared to Germany is if you are a retiree. However, I wouldn’t call it easy to get a residence permit in Switzerland in any case.

Once again it comes as no surprise that it is easier to become a citizen of Germany than a citizen of Switzerland.
Usually in Switzerland you need to reside 10 years in the country before you can apply for citizenship.
In Germany you need to live 8 years before you can apply for citizenship, which can be reduced to 7 if you complete an integration course. Just like in Switzerland there are exceptions and you will need to spend less time in the country before you can apply if you are married to a national resident.
The advantage in Switzerland is that there are no restrictions in regards to dual citizenship. In Germany dual citizenship is only permitted in a few cases.

06:30 Taxes

-The tax system is one of the aspects in which Germany and Switzerland have the sharpest differences.
-Taxes in Switzerland can vary greatly even between different cantons of the country. But, when compared to overall taxes, in almost all cases, Switzerland has lower taxes than Germany. This applies to individuals, but also to corporations. So if you are really good at something and think you can make good money from your skills or business ideas, in Switzerland, you will be better off than in Germany regarding taxes.

07:05 Language

In terms of languages Germany and Switzerland are also quite different.
The only official language of Germany nationwide is Standard German.
In Switzerland the situation is very different. Despite its small size, the country has four official languages, which are in order of prevalence: German, French, Italian and Romansh.

08:14 Final Verdict

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