Annual Report 2025 - Avenir Suisse

Foreword

2025 marked a milestone in the history of Avenir Suisse: for 25 years, we have been committed to a liberal and future-ready Switzerland. We shared our anniversary with the entire country. We published a book on a highly topical issue: Antifragile Switzerland. It shows how our country can not only withstand crises but also grow stronger through them.

The book launch was accompanied by an exclusive anniversary event with high-profile speakers, a vernissage in both French-speaking and German-speaking Switzerland, a poster campaign, numerous appearances by our experts, social media initiatives, and much more. The media response was substantial and nationwide: interviews, reports, and excerpts from the book underscored the relevance of our message.

To mark our anniversary, we also launched a new fellowship program. As “Distinguished Fellows,” we recognize prominent figures from politics, academia, and society for their contributions. At the same time, in their new role, they are expected to bring their networks and expertise to Avenir Suisse’s work in a targeted way. The first Distinguished Fellow was Thomas Jordan, former Chairman of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank.

Beyond this, 2025 was also a year of important decisions. After almost 14 years at Avenir Suisse, including around seven years as Deputy Director and Director for French-speaking Switzerland, Jérôme Cosandey took over as Head of the Labor Directorate at the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). We used this transition to once again separate the two roles of Deputy Director and Director for French-speaking Switzerland – with the aim of further strengthening our presence in French-speaking Switzerland going forward. With Diego Taboada and Michele Salvi, we were able to appoint two internal talents to these important positions.

In addition to one-off projects, we shaped the national debate with new analyses and reform ideas – from reducing bureaucracy in sustainability reporting and modernizing the postal service to our cantonal Freedom Index. At the same time, we continued to pursue our earlier reform proposals more actively than ever and accompanied them in the public debate on an ongoing basis. As a result, several of our ideas were taken up by policymakers, including the idea of a “deletion week” to cut red tape, the offsetting of real bracket creep, the introduction of a tax rebate in the event of cantonal surpluses, and a “security year” to finance national defense.

We have thus modernized and adapted many aspects of our work. Yet even after 25 years, our ambition remains the same: through independent analysis, a clear stance, and bold reform ideas, we want to contribute to Switzerland’s ability to thrive in the future. This annual report shows in detail how we lived up to this ambition in 2025 – and how we intend to carry it forward.

Key Figures

Finances

Personnel expenses amounted to CHF 3,654,281 in 2025, slightly above the previous year’s figure of CHF 3,473,865. This increase is due, among other things, to the fact that we were able to fill existing vacancies in 2024. At the same time, there were several staff departures during the reporting year, some of which were not immediately replaced. To ensure the necessary operational capacity – particularly during the anniversary year – we selectively outsourced corresponding tasks to external service providers.

External expenses therefore rose to CHF 825,766, compared with CHF 155,231 in the previous year. In addition to cushioning staff shortages, this development was largely related to the activities surrounding Avenir Suisse’s 25th anniversary. A central element was the development and publication of the book Antifragile Switzerland, which served as the anniversary’s main thematic focus and further strengthened Avenir Suisse’s positioning. External support was brought in at various stages for conception, production, and accompanying communications and event formats. The anniversary event and other activities related to the book launch also contributed to the higher expenses. In addition, in 2025 we laid the groundwork for the rebranding and relaunch in 2026 and also drew on external expertise for this purpose.

Infrastructure, operating, and office expenses amounted to CHF 676,581, below the previous year’s figure of CHF 862,605.

Despite the additional activities in the anniversary year, we continued to ensure that funds were used carefully and efficiently. As a result, neither the special anniversary budget nor the regular budget of CHF 5.5 million was fully used.

Communications

Our content reaches a large audience

In 2025, we succeeded in bringing our topics effectively into the public debate. The figures underline this: more than 1,700 articles and reports appeared in print and online media as well as on radio and television. Toward the end of the year, coverage intensified further: in December alone, more than 270 items were published, particularly on our book Antifragile Switzerland, our anniversary, and the Freedom Index.

Through our digital channels, we reached even more people than in the previous year. On LinkedIn, our follower count grew by 20%, while interactions increased by as much as 28% – a clear sign of growing interest in our content. Posts by our topic leaders also attracted broad attention, with individual posts reaching several tens of thousands of impressions. Although the total number of newsletter subscribers declined slightly, we were able to improve the quality of interactions and engagement: open and click-through rates increased by several percentage points across all newsletter formats. Our website, meanwhile, recorded more than 620,000 visits.

Podcasts continue to gain importance, particularly as a way to reach younger target audiences. The growth in our listenership is therefore especially encouraging: by the end of 2025, more than 3,000 people had subscribed to our podcasts, an increase of 19% compared with the previous year.

As a result, our voice was clearly heard in the public debate in 2025 – visible, well-founded, and relevant.

Support Foundation

The Support Foundation is responsible for securing Avenir Suisse’s long-term financing. In the 2025 reporting year, six new members joined the Donor Group, while 33 existing members renewed their commitment.

In total, 124 companies and private individuals supported the think tank. This broad-based, cross-sector support ensures independence and stability. Recurring donor contributions enable the strategic development of Avenir Suisse beyond its 25th anniversary. They provide the foundation for us to continue generating ideas and shaping the debate – for the future of Switzerland’s successful model.