Survey results 2021

Key findings:

1 The Swiss population is concerned about the extent of global poverty.

70 percent state that they are concerned about the extent of global poverty, although only one in four is aware that 60 percent of the world's population still lives on less than ten international dollars a day.

2 People underestimate their own position in the global distribution of income.

Only 10 percent of respondents are aware that they belong to the richest ten percent of the world's population. According to the Federal Statistical Office, around 60 percent of the Swiss population belong to the top ten percent of the global income pyramid.

3 50 percent of the population are in favor of a greater financial commitment by Switzerland to development cooperation.

This approval must be seen against the background that most respondents overestimate Switzerland's spending on international development cooperation of around 400 Swiss francs per capita.

4 Multilateral organizations such as the UN, the WHO and the World Bank are considered to be particularly effective in combating global poverty.

The multilateral organizations are followed by NGOs, then the SDC (Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation) and the private sector.

5 A large majority of those surveyed support political measures to combat poverty.

About 70 percent of the population are in favor of temporarily waiving patent protection for Covid vaccines, even if this would entail possible costs for Swiss industry. Likewise, effective measures to prevent human rights violations and environmental pollution in supply chains and measures to prevent multinational companies from shifting profits from low-​​income countries to Switzerland for tax reasons are seen as important in combating the structural causes of poverty.

6 The Swiss population is also privately committed.

More than a 30 percent of the respondents donate to organizations that work to fight global poverty, and more than 50 percent say they boycott problematic products. In other high-​income countries, both values are significantly lower.