On the occasion of the 10 000th publication
of the Federal Statistical Office175 years at the service of the modern federal stateSCROLLDEITFRStatistics
ABOUTThe FSO has been fulfilling this unique task for almost 165 years now – an achievement marked by a special milestone that we are celebrating today: the publication of the 10,000th publication.read moreSince the founding of modern Switzerland, the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) has been tasked with providing the entire population, the administration, the economy and also researchers with well-founded and reliable information about the country.
Milestone1860After the statistical surveys introduced by Stefano Franscini (above all the first federal population censuses) had initially been carried out directly by the Federal Department of Home Affairs for over 10 years, the Federal Council finally decided to give the increasingly extensive tasks to a federal office and to network them nationally with other activities.read more
Establishment of a Federal Statistical OfficeWatch the videoStefano Franscini
Founder of Swiss statistics,
Federal Councillor and Head of the
Federal Department of Home Affairs (1848–1857)
read moreswipe left and right1862In July 1862, two years after the Federal Statistical Office was founded, the new office's first publication appeared in German and French. It is still one of the most comprehensive statistical publications to date.PUBLICATIONNo. 1 – Population. Federal census of 10 December 1860swipe left and rightsee the publication
read more1870During the 19th century, official statistics gained increasing importance, both for the administration and society, as an important basis for decision-making and discourse. This is documented, among other things, by the introduction of regular nationwide censuses, the establishment of a Federal Statistical Office, and the academic development and international exchange of statistical science and its methods.MilestoneFederal Act of 23 July 1870 on Official Statistical Surveys in Switzerland
read more1894The 100th publication of the Federal Statistical Office was the Statistical Yearbook 1894. The series, which was already in its fourth edition, was founded in 1891 by the long-standing director Louis Guillaume shortly after he took office, with wise foresight. It was already the flagship publication of Swiss statistics at the time.PublicationNo. 100 – Statistical Yearbook of Switzerland 1894swipe left and rightsee publication
see the publicationread moreswipe left and right1914A picture is worth a thousand words – a diagram, a thousand figures. As official statistics were becoming established and more professional in the second half of the 19th century, the principles and methods of data visualation still used today were being developed. PUBLICATIONNo. 191 – Graphical Statistical Atlas of Switzerland 1914swipe left and rightLouis Guillaume
FSO Director
from 1889 to 1914Louis Guillaume
FSO Director
from 1889 to 1914
read more1966The 1000th publication was dedicated to a statistical topic that seems rather strange from today's perspective, but which played a major role in the Federal Office's surveys from its foundation in 1860 until well into the second half of the 20th century: the annual federal military recruitment exams.PUBLICATIONNo. 1000 – Gymnastics test during recruitmentswipe left and rightsee the publication
see the publicationswipe left and right1974The 1256th publication by the FSO, which appeared in 1974, introduced a revolutionary new publication format that is now taken for granted. If it had not existed, it would have had to be invented immediately. With little text, no completeness of content, almost no footnotes and methodological explanations, the new 'Pocket Statistics of Switzerlan' provides the key figures from the FSO's large statistical programme for a completely new user group that has little affinity for statistics and does not have the time to delve into long text publications. The fact that this concept is successful is proven by the high number of copies which is is distributed every year. Little has changed in that regard – except that today, in addition to figures and tables, pocket statistics mainly rely on (simple) visualisations – Louis Guillaume would have been pleased.publicationNo. 1256 – Statistical Data on Switzerland 1973swipe left and right
Milestone1979In its early years, the Federal Statistical Office changed departments several times. On 18 December 1929, the Federal Council decided to separate the Federal Statistical Office from the Finance Department and, as at its foundation, to reassign it to the Department of Home Affairs. This assignment has continued to this day and has proven to be successful for the office's performance of tasks. 50 years after this step, on 1 January 1979, the Federal Statistical Bureau was renamed the 'Federal Statistical Office', which is the name it still bears today.read moreBFS main building at Schwarztorstrasse 96 in Bern (until 1998).Renaming of the Federal Statistical Bureau as the «Federal Statistical Office»
read moreswipe left and right1992The Federal Statistics Act of 9 October 1992 is a real milestone in Swiss statistics. After more than 120 (!) years, it replaced the brief Act on the Statistical Recording of the Confederation of 23 July 1870. It thus finally laid a modern, independent and comprehensive foundation for Swiss statistics. Even before the end of the 20th century, the official statistics of the Confederation had to face major challenges. The constantly growing need for information on the part of the state, the economy, research and also broad sections of the population required and requires the targeted and rapid provision of qualitatively good data and information, which were not fully covered by the old law.MilestoneThe Federal Statistics Act (BStatG) of 9 October 1992swipe left and rightCarlo Malaguerra
FSO Director
from 1987 to 2001Carlo Malaguerra
BFS Direktor von
1987 bis 2001
1996–20042005–20072007–20082008–20162017–20232024read more1996In 1996, the time had finally come! In the publications catalogue, we arrived at number 2565 when a completely new publication channel was set up that has now become indispensable. As one of the first larger offices of the federal administration, the Federal Statistical Office went online on 1 April 1996 and immediately began distributing its information not only via traditional distribution channels, but primarily via the World Wide Web.PUBLICATIONNo. 2565 – FSO's website (www.bfs.admin.ch) and online database (STATWEB)swipe left and rightSTAT-TABSwiss Stats
read more1998Due to the increasing demand for new and improved public statistics and the resulting increase in its tasks in the second half of the 20th century, the Federal Statistical Office had seen a significant increase in staff numbers. MilestoneThe Federal Statistical Office moves from Bern to Neuchâtel
2009 20112024read more2003In 2003, the Statistical Yearbook, which has been published since 1891, was the first of the FSO's publications to introduce a major innovation in terms of format. The 110th edition of the Statistical Yearbook (publication no. 3686) contained for the first time a CD-ROM supplement, which included a complete glossary and the electronic version of the yearbook and its tables, as well as a new Statistical Atlas of Switzerland.PUBLICATIONNo. 3686 – Statistical Yearbook of Switzerland 2003 with CD-ROM and interactive atlasswipe left and rightsee the publication
read more2007In view of its close and diverse ties with the EU, Switzerland pursues an interest-based policy towards the European Union that is based on a series of bilateral agreements in clearly defined areas.milestoneThe bilateral statistics agreement with the EU comes into force
read more2010The new Federal Act on the Population Census of 22 June 2007 forms the basis for a modern, integrated and highly regarded Statistical System in Switzerland, with which the structure and development of the population and households can be permanently monitored. From the reference date of 31 December 2010 onwards, Switzerland no longer conduct a full census every ten years, but instead successfully carries out a population census every year as a register-based census with additional sample surveys.milestoneNew census law of 22 June 2007 and the new census since 2010swipe left and right
read more2010The '2009 Annual Report on Police Crime Statistics' – FSO's publication no. 5840 – was the result of a fundamental revision of the statistics (PCS). It presents all crimes recorded by the police for the first time for the whole of Switzerland. The high level of detail of the information recorded makes it possible to identify crimes, victims and suspects (including information on age, gender and nationality).PUBLICATIONNo. 5840 – Police Crime Statistics (PCS). 2009 Annual Reportswipe left and rightsee the publication
read more2014On 29 January 2014, the UN General Assembly adopted the resolution on the UN Fundamental Principles for Official Statistics. The ten fundamental principles of official statistics were adopted in 1992 by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe to provide guidelines for the reconstruction of the statistical systems of Eastern European countries after the fall of the Berlin Wall. MilestoneAdoption of the UN General Assembly resolution on the Fundamental Principles
read more2016Five years after the first FSO app, the 7520th publication heralds the next innovation in publication formats: «Mobile overtakes desktop, tablets are booming.» – there was no end to reports like this at the beginning of the last decade, and they all point to one thing: since everyone started using smartphones, there has been a very dynamic movement in the publishing market. And this movement does not stop at the traditional world of print, which has long since become a world of PDFs and is now putting the spotlight on digital publishing.PUBLICATIONNo. 7520 – Federal Statistical Program 2016–2019 (DigiPub)swipe left and rightsee the publication
read more2021Since 1860, the FSO and its employees have been demonstrating commitment and constant development on a daily basis. A milestone of this consistent transformation can be seen in 2021: in addition to its core statistical business, the Swiss Federal Council has officially commissioned the FSO also with the tasks of Data management and Data science for the Confederation.milestoneData management and data science as new areas of activity for the FSO
milestone2024The 55th session of the UN Statistical Commission opened on 27 February 2024 with the election of the Bureau. The Director-General of the Federal Statistical Office (FSO), Georges-Simon Ulrich, was elected Chair of the Statistical Commission for a period of one year. It is assumed that Switzerland will also hold the presidency in 2025. The Bureau moderates the discussions of the Commission and is responsible for reporting the results.Georges-Simon Ulrich
FSO Director from
2013 until todayread moreSwiss presidency of the UN Statistical CommissionGeorges-Simon Ulrich
FSO Director from
2013 until today
read more2024The time has come! On 26 September 2024, around 162 years after the first publication, the Federal Statistical Office publishes its 10 000th publication. The 2024 edition of the 'Environmental Pocket Statistics' provides a statistical overview over 10 concise and colourful pages of how humans are changing the environment by using natural resources and generating waste and other emissions.PUBLICATIONNo. 10000 – Environment. Pocket statistics 2024swipe left and rightsee the publication
