Why is Financial Literacy Relatively High in Switzerland?

ZURICH, August 24, 2026 — Switzerland’s financial literacy is supported by high performance in basic mathematical skills. OECD data shows that Swiss adults aged 16 to 65 scored an average of 276 points in numeracy in the 2023 Survey of Adult Skills, above the OECD average. Only 19% of Swiss adults scored at or below Level 1, compared with 25% across OECD countries and economies, while 21% reached Levels 4 or 5, compared with 14% on average.

These abilities are relevant to everyday financial decisions involving interest rates, inflation, debt costs, investment returns and risk. Swiss adults aged 16 to 24 also recorded an average numeracy score of 289, above the OECD average, suggesting that younger adults enter working life with a solid foundation in mathematical skills.

Education Has a Direct Role

Education provides another foundation for understanding financial information. Swiss adults scored above the OECD average in all three areas measured by the 2023 Survey of Adult Skills: 266 points in literacy, 276 in numeracy and 257 in adaptive problem solving. These skills help people interpret information, work with numbers and assess problems that require several steps.

Swiss financial-literacy research also shows a substantial relationship between education and financial knowledge. The 2025 True Wealth Financial Literacy Index found that respondents with lower levels of education answered 37.5% of the questions correctly on average, compared with 64.8% among respondents with higher education. The study was based on a representative sample of 2,043 people aged 16 to 74 and was conducted by GfK for True Wealth, with academic support from Michael Kendzia of ZHAW School of Management and Law.

Financial Decisions are Part of Everyday Life

Swiss households regularly deal with banking, pensions, insurance, taxation, saving, borrowing and investment decisions. These areas require people to understand financial information and make choices that can affect household finances over many years. Regular exposure can make concepts such as interest, risk, returns and retirement planning more familiar and relevant.

Yet familiarity with financial products does not automatically mean high financial knowledge. The 2025 True Wealth index gave Switzerland an average score of 5.43 out of 10, meaning respondents answered 54% of the questions correctly. More than 70% answered questions on compound interest, inflation and diversification correctly, but knowledge fell when questions became more sophisticated, including those concerning the relationship between interest rates and bond prices.

Photo credit: OECD

Switzerland Still Has Financial Literacy Gaps

The Swiss results therefore do not support the idea that financial literacy is uniformly high across the population. The 2025 index found substantial differences by gender, education, income and language region. Men answered 62.6% of questions correctly on average, compared with 45.9% among women. Respondents with higher incomes also generally performed better, while those earning more than 15,000 Swiss francs a month had an average success rate of almost 69%, compared with about 41% among those earning less than 4,500 Swiss francs.

International comparisons need to be treated with caution. The OECD/INFE 2023 financial-literacy survey covered 39 countries and economies, but Switzerland was not included, so there is no basis for stating that Switzerland has a higher financial-literacy score than the global average from that survey. The available evidence instead shows a country with above-OECD-average adult skills and a moderate level of financial knowledge that varies substantially across demographic and socioeconomic groups.

Switzerland therefore offers an interesting case for understanding financial literacy without presenting it as a universal success story. Numeracy and literacy provide useful foundations, while education, income and regular exposure to financial decisions can shape how people manage money. At the same time, Swiss data shows that significant gaps remain, particularly when financial questions become more sophisticated.