58 percent of Swiss buildings are heated with oil and gas
In 2021, heating in Switzerland was primarily based on fossil fuels. According to building and housing statistics from the Federal Statistical Office, 58 percent of buildings were heated with oil and gas. 17 percent had a heat pump.
According to a press release , most heating systems in Swiss buildings were operated with oil or gas in 2021. This is the result of the building and housing statistics now published by the Federal Statistical Office ( BFS ) based in Neuchâtel. According to this, in 2021 there were 1.77 million residential buildings and 4.69 million apartments in Switzerland. 58 percent of the buildings were heated with fossil fuels – heating oil and gas are mentioned. Every fourth person heated with gas. 17 percent of the apartments were equipped with a heat pump. Their share of Swiss heating has quadrupled since 2000.
Almost 40 percent of the population used heating oil in 2021. 25 percent heated with gas and 16 percent with a heat pump. The proportion of people who use heating oil was highest in the cantons of Ticino with 54 percent and Glarus (50 percent). Gas was used most frequently in the cantons of Geneva and Vaud, at 38 percent and 37 percent respectively.
There are big differences in the share of gas between urban and rural areas. In urban communities, 30 percent of buildings were heated with gas, compared to just 4 percent in rural communities.
More than 1 million of all buildings are single-family homes, of which more than half of the inhabited single-family homes were only occupied by one or two people, according to the BFS statement. An inhabited apartment in Switzerland was 102.4 square meters on average. Three and four room apartments make up 55 percent of all apartments in Switzerland.