Apartments too large? The living space of newly built apartments today is about a quarter smaller than in the early 2000s.

The average living space of newly built apartments reached its peak in the early 2000s: between 2001 and 2005 it was 131.1 m². The smallest apartments were built between 1961 and 1970, with an average area of 82.9 m². Since then, the average living space has steadily increased – to 93.0 m² for apartments from 1971 to 1980, 106.7 m² between 1981 and 1990, and 112.1 m² for buildings from the 1990s. Today, the average living space of newly built apartments is thus again between the values of the 1970s and 1980s. The average living space per person has increased nationwide in Switzerland, mainly driven by the growing share of single-person households and demographic aging. However, per capita growth has strongly flattened since 2000 (see our related fact) and has even slightly declined since 2023, especially in larger cities.