Accident statistics: 915,000 accidents recorded in 2024

The 22 UVG insurers in Switzerland registered around 915,000 accidents and occupational illnesses in 2024. This corresponds to a slight increase compared to the previous year (+0.7%). The 2.0% decline in occupational accidents and illnesses to 280,000 cases is more than compensated for by the 1.7% increase in leisure accidents to 618,000. These UVG statistics do not include accidents involving children, schoolchildren, students, housewives and househusbands, the self-employed and pensioners. Essentially, therefore, it covers employees and apprentices aged between 15 and 65 who are permanently resident in Switzerland. These people make up a good half of the resident population.

Differences between the insurers

A differentiated picture emerges between the accident insurers: at Suva, the number of occupational accidents and occupational illnesses fell by 3.6%, while the number of leisure accidents increased by 2.1%. In contrast, the other private insurers, which are mainly active in the service sector, saw a slight increase of 0.8% in occupational accidents, while the increase in leisure accidents was 1.4%. These differences reflect the different insured structures and activity profiles in the respective insured collectives.

The current costs for 2024 are not yet fully known. In the previous year, insurance benefits amounted to around CHF 5.5 billion, mainly for medical costs (medical and therapeutic benefits), daily allowances and provisions for disability and survivors' pensions. At 63.5 percent, leisure accidents accounted for the largest share of this, with 33.3 percent attributable to occupational accidents and illnesses, 3.1 percent to accidents involving unemployed persons and 0.1 percent to accidents involving persons on IV measures.

The focus chapter of this year's UVG statistics sheds light on the effects of demographic change on accidents and shows that the accident risk of men and women has increasingly converged over the last three decades. In occupational accident insurance, this convergence is primarily due to the decline in the risk of accidents among men in higher-risk sectors. The reasons for this are stricter regulations, investments in prevention measures and the growing proportion of administrative activities. The occupational accident risk for women, on the other hand, remained largely stable.

There are also signs of changes in the risk of accidents during leisure time. There has been a clear decline among men, especially younger men, even though they still have the highest accident rate. However, the over-representation has weakened noticeably, to which the increase in road safety has probably contributed significantly. In contrast, there has been an increase in the risk of leisure accidents among women, particularly in the 55+ age group. This is mainly due to a change in more active leisure behavior. Overall, the statistics indicate a convergence of accident risks between genders and generations. On the one hand, this is due to the demographic development in the insured population - older and more female. On the other hand, changes in job profiles, prevention efforts and leisure habits are also reshaping the risk.

Cases registered with all UVG insurers in compulsory accident insurance:

Sources: Suva / Swiss Insurance Association SIA