The representative survey by moneyland.ch included 1500 participants between the ages of 18 and 74 years old from both French-speaking and German-speaking regions. Participants were asked where and under which circumstances they have stolen or knowingly not paid for goods or services.
The results show that Swiss are less law-abiding than one might think. Only around 36 percent of Switzerland’s adult population has not stolen or deliberately not paid for something. Using public transportation without a ticket is exceptionally widespread. 40 percent of all participants admitted to deliberately using public transportation without a valid ticket at least once. 18 percent admitted to doing this more than twice.
Table 1: Where Switzerland steals
| Stolen or not paid |
At least once |
| Public transportation |
40% |
| From the workplace |
27% |
| From hotels |
23% |
| From Migros |
23% |
| From Coop |
22% |
| At self-checkouts |
20% |
| From restaurants |
19% |
| From kiosks |
17% |
| From relatives/acquaintances |
17% |
| From Denner |
16% |
| Deliberately not repaying a loan |
16% |
| From Aldi |
14% |
| From Lidl |
14% |
| From clothes stores |
14% |
| From electronics stores |
13% |
| From pharmacies |
13% |
| From post offices |
13% |
| From libraries |
11% |
| From other stores |
15% |
“Using public transportation without a ticket is much less socially unacceptable than shoplifting, so the moral threshold is lower,” comments moneyland.ch editor Dan Urner about the high figure for theft from public transportation.
But theft in Switzerland goes further than riding the rails. Many residents have also stolen from their workplaces (27 percent) and from hotels (23 percent). The big retailers Migros and Coop are also hotspots, with 23 percent and 22 percent of participants respectively admitting to having stolen from these stores at least once.
Men are more likely to steal than women
“Men give in to the temptation to steal more often than women do,” says moneyland.ch CEO Benjamin Manz. In every single category, more men than women admitted to stealing or deliberately not paying for something at least once.
The differences are most outstanding for theft from Coop and restaurants. While 25 percent of men admit to having stolen from Coop at least once, only 19 percent of women admitted to the same. Similarly, 22 percent of men have stolen or deliberately not paid at restaurants, compared to 16 percent of women. The difference in both cases is 6 percentage points.
The picture is very different for theft from relatives and acquaintances, with just one percentage point separating the genders.
Table 2: Top 10 theft categories by gender
| Stolen or not paid |
Women |
Men |
| Public transportation |
39% |
42% |
| From the workplace |
25% |
29% |
| From Migros |
22% |
24% |
| From hotels |
21% |
24% |
| From Coop |
19% |
25% |
| At self-checkouts |
19% |
21% |
| From restaurants |
16% |
22% |
| From relatives/acquaintances |
16% |
17% |
| Deliberately not repaying a loan |
15% |
17% |
| From Denner |
14% |
18% |
Young people are more likely to steal
Another point that stands out is that residents between the ages of 18 and 25 are more likely to steal. “The moral threshold for theft is particularly low among younger people,” observes Benjamin Manz. In all categories, participants in the youngest age group surpass the average for residents as a whole.
57 percent of participants between 18 and 25 years old admit to using public transportation without a ticket at least once. 35 percent have deliberately avoided paying for an item at a Coop self-checkout at least once.
Older generations are disproportionately less likely to steal, as Manz observes: “Residents between the ages of 50 and 74 are much less likely to steal.” This age group lies below the average for participants as a whole in every category. But among those aged 50 to 75, using public transportation without paying is still the most likely theft (29 percent), followed by theft from the workplace (22 percent).
Table 3: Top 10 by age
| Stolen or not paid |
Age 18 to 25 |
Age 26 to 49 |
Age 50 to 74 |
| Public transportation |
57% |
45% |
29% |
| At self-checkouts |
35% |
25% |
9% |
| From Coop |
35% |
28% |
12% |
| From the workplace |
32% |
31% |
22% |
| From hotels |
30% |
28% |
14% |
| From Migros |
30% |
28% |
13% |
| From relatives/acquaintances |
28% |
21% |
7% |
| Deliberately not repaid a loan |
27% |
20% |
8% |
| From kiosks |
21% |
23% |
7% |
| From Denner |
20% |
23% |
7% |
Residents of French-speaking regions are more likely to shoplift
Residents of French-speaking regions are more likely to steal when grocery shopping than people in German-speaking Switzerland. 26 percent of participants in French-speaking Switzerland admitted to having stolen from Migros at least once, compared to 21 percent in German-speaking Switzerland. Theft from Coop is also more likely in French-speaking Switzerland (25 percent) than in German-speaking Switzerland (22 percent).
Residents of German-speaking Switzerland, for their part, are more likely to steal from relatives or acquaintances than French-speaking Swiss. 18 percent of participants in German-speaking regions admitted to doing this at least once, compared to 13 percent in French-speaking Switzerland. Theft from the workplace is also more common in German-speaking Switzerland than in the Romandie.
Table 4: Top 10 categories by region
| Stolen or not paid |
German-speaking regions |
French-speaking regions |
| Public transportation |
41% |
38% |
| From the workplace |
28% |
25% |
| From hotels |
23% |
21% |
| From Coop |
22% |
25% |
| From Migros |
21% |
26% |
| At self-checkouts |
20% |
19% |
| From restaurants |
19% |
19% |
| From relatives/acquaintances |
18% |
13% |
| Deliberately not repaying a loan |
17% |
15% |
| From kiosks |
16% |
17% |
The poorest people are less likely to steal
It is easy to imagine that poorer people are more likely to steal than wealthy people. But the numbers do not confirm that bias. On the contrary, residents with less than 20,000 francs of wealth are the least likely to steal, according to the survey results. “Instead, participants with a net worth of 300,000 francs or more stand out in a negative sense,” observes Dan Urner.
More on this topic:
Get detailed tables of survey results (German PDF)
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