The size of premiums varies drastically depending on which canton and premium region you live in. Online comparison service moneyland.ch calculated the average premiums across Switzerland’s predominantly French-speaking, German-speaking, and Italian-speaking regions.
The results: In 2025, residents of German-speaking Switzerland aged 26 or older will pay an average of 427 francs per month for mandatory health insurance (actual premiums vary broadly between individual cantons). The average premium is 20 percent higher at 511 francs in French-speaking Switzerland, and 28 percent higher at 549 francs in Ticino. “That means residents of French-speaking regions will pay around 1000 francs more per year for mandatory health insurance than those of German-speaking regions,” says moneyland.ch analyst Felix Oeschger. Residents of Ticino will pay nearly 1500 more per year than those of German-speaking Switzerland.
The calculations are based on the average premiums for 2024 as published by the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH). The FOPH assigns each municipality in Switzerland to a health insurance premium region. Each Swiss canton has between one and three premium regions. The moneyland.ch analysis evaluated the average premiums published by the FOPH across linguistic regions, based on the predominant language in each premium region. The massive price differences are the result of differences in healthcare spending between individual premium regions.
Young residents are particularly affected
The gap between linguistic regions is even wider in the middle age group – young adults between 19 and 25 years old. The average premium for residents of French-speaking Switzerland aged 19 to 25 is 363 francs – 23 percent higher than the 294-franc average premium for young adults in German-speaking Switzerland.
The gap is even wider for young adults in Ticino. The average premium for Ticino’s residents between the ages of 19 and 25 years old is 387 francs per month – 31 percent higher than the average premium in German-speaking Switzerland.
The average premium for residents of German-speaking Switzerland in the youngest age group (children up to the age of 18) is 112 francs per month. The average premium for a child is 19 percent higher in French-speaking Switzerland, at 134 francs, and 24 percent higher in Ticino, at 139 francs.
Linguistic gap in Valais
The canton of Valais is split into two premium regions, with one including primarily French-speaking municipalities, and the other premium region made up largely of German-speaking municipalities. The average monthly premium for mandatory health insurance is 437 francs in the French-speaking region. That is 14 percent higher than the 382-franc average premium in Valais’ German-speaking premium region.
Premiums are highest in urbanized cantons and Ticino
If you look at individual premium regions, the highest average premium (572 francs) applies to adult residents of the urbanized canton of Geneva. Next in line is Ticino’s premium region one (primarily southern Ticino, including the cities of Bellinzona, Locarno, Lugano, and Mendrisio), which has an average premium of 554 francs per month. It is followed by Basel-Stadt with 530 francs per month, Vaud’s premium region one (includes Lausanne, Montreaux, Nyon, and other municipalities near the lake of Geneva) with 517 francs per month, and Ticino’s premium region two (primarily northern Ticino) with 516 francs per month.
Rural regions have the lowest premiums
The lowest average mandatory insurance premium in 2025 is for the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden, at 309 francs per month. Next in line are the canton of Uri (347 francs), the canton of Obwalden (359 francs), Grison’s premium region three, which includes the rural areas of Bündner Oberland, Albula, and Viamala (364 francs), and the canton of Nidwalden (366 francs).
Methodology
The analysis is based on the estimated average premiums for 2025 published by the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) per age group, canton, and additionally per premium region (without accounting for the FOPH’s expected changes to the numbers in populations).
Date: 12.09.2024.
Cantons can be divided between as many as three different premium regions, each with different premium levels. For the moneyland.ch study, 41 of Switzerland’s 42 premium regions were categorized into French-speaking, German-speaking, and Italian-speaking linguistic regions. Based on this categorization and the average numbers of insured residents as per 2023, moneyland.ch calculated the average premium per age group and linguistic region for 2025.
More on this topic:
Detailed study results (German PDF)
Compare Swiss mandatory health insurance premiums for 2025
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