Boasting the world's most competitive economy — on the basis of factors such as business climate, institutions, infrastructure, higher education and innovation, according to the non-profit World Economic Forum — Switzerland also hosts some of Europe's finest universities, such as the ETH Zurich and the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale of Lausanne. It also maintains a thriving pharmaceutical and biotech industry, along with impressive mountain scenery, fine watches and high-quality chocolate. Switzerland hosts the headquarters of several major drug-makers. The Basel area alone is home to the bases of Novartis, Roche and Actelion, and Geneva hosts headquarters for the pharmaceutical company Merck Serono.

Credit: SOURCE: SWISS BIOTECH

Biotech and pharma

  • Some 245 pharmaceutical companies operate in Switzerland, employing 35,400 people, including researchers.

  • Revenues from Swiss biotech companies rose from 8.09 billion Swiss francs (US$8.37 billion) in 2007 to 9.34 billion Swiss francs in 2009, an increase of 15.4%.

  • The number of biotechs in Switzerland rose from 119 in 2001 to 162 in 2009. Biotech employees totalled 19,071 in 2009. Between 20% and 30% of those are researchers.

Research and development (R&D) expenditures

  • Around 3% of Switzerland's gross domestic product goes to R&D. Private industry accounts for 73% of that amount.

  • The Swiss government, industry and academia collectively spent 16.3 billion Swiss francs on R&D in 2008, up 24% since 2004.

International researchers

  • More than 50% of professors hired between 2005 and 2008 in Switzerland's 12 research universities are from outside Switzerland.

  • 45.7% of professors and 50.3% of assistants and scientific personnel are non-Swiss.

  • Up to 56% of professors are predicted to be non-Swiss by 2018.