# Method and source ledger

## Study

**Title:** Switzerland's single-family homes shifted older in all 26 cantons

**Author:** Gilberto de la Fuente, Director at Helpore

**Published:** 15 September 2026

## Official source

Federal Statistical Office, Buildings and Dwellings Statistics, table T 09.03.02.15, "Occupied dwellings by age classes of household members and building category, by canton", 2013-2025.

- Table page: https://www.bfs.admin.ch/asset/de/je-d-09.03.02.15
- Statistical release: https://www.bfs.admin.ch/news/de/2026-0601
- Reference date: 31 December of each year
- Unit: occupied dwellings with at least one person in a registered private household assigned to them

## Core calculations

### Occupied single-family homes with a resident aged 65 or older

The seven age-composition columns in the BFS table are mutually exclusive. Helpore calculated the group with at least one registered resident aged 65 or older as:

`BFS columns E + G + H + I`

The complementary group with no registered resident aged 65 or older is:

`BFS columns C + D + F`

Each occupied dwelling is therefore counted once and only once.

| Group | 2024 | 2025 | Change |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| With at least one resident aged 65 or older | 330,625 | 337,198 | +6,573 |
| With no resident aged 65 or older | 540,387 | 535,302 | -5,085 |
| Total occupied single-family homes | 871,012 | 872,500 | +1,488 |

The same sign pattern, positive for the first group and negative for the second, occurred in all 26 cantons. This was the first 26-of-26 result in the available annual comparisons from 2014 to 2025.

### Occupied dwellings with only residents aged 65 or older

The BFS column E category contains occupied dwellings in which every registered private-household member is aged 65 or older. It includes one-person and multi-person households.

| Measure | 2024 | 2025 | Change |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| All occupied dwellings | 4,084,910 | 4,127,201 | +42,291 |
| 65-plus-only occupied dwellings | 936,975 | 959,382 | +22,407 |

`22,407 / 42,291 = 52.9829%`, reported as **53.0%**.

This is a contribution to the net difference between two year-end stocks. It is not a share of construction, purchases, moves or newly formed households. The corresponding result for 2024 was 50.03%, so 2025 was the second consecutive majority year and the highest share in the available annual comparisons.

## Long-run comparison

From 2013 to 2025:

- Occupied single-family homes with at least one 65-plus resident increased from 271,923 to 337,198, or 24.0%.
- Occupied single-family homes with no 65-plus resident decreased from 568,235 to 535,302, or 5.8%.
- 65-plus-only occupied dwellings across all building categories increased from 733,595 to 959,382, or 30.8%.
- All occupied dwellings increased from 3,563,968 to 4,127,201, or 15.8%.

## Interpretation

The study describes changes in occupied dwellings by the age composition of their registered private households. A dwelling can change category when a resident turns 65, household composition changes, people move, or the dwelling stock or register changes.

The figures do not measure ownership, transactions, living alone, retirement status, care needs, household-help use, downsizing decisions or the cause of housing scarcity.

The 2025 source assigns Moutier to Bern. The transfer to Jura took effect on 1 January 2026, so it does not break the 2024-2025 canton comparison.

## Reproducibility files

- `helpore-ageing-swiss-homes-2026.csv` contains publication values with source sheet and cell references.
- `helpore-ageing-swiss-homes-2026.xlsx` contains the national and canton calculations as formulas linked to source-value sheets.
- `helpore-ageing-swiss-homes-2026.pdf` contains the public study.

Questions or factual corrections can be sent to hello@helpore.com.