Mortality Changes in Swiss Districts, 1888-1930

Joël Floris, University of Zurich

Between 1850 and 1914, Switzerland developed from a poor country to a country at the top of the European GDP p. c. distribution. At the same time, life expectancy at birth increased significantly. Other indicators of living standards such as real wages or average adult height show the same upward trend. In contrast to the GDP p. c. ranking, however, Switzerland achieved only an average position in the European distribution of the other indicators before World War I. The literature explains the comparatively average level of real wages with high inequality, regional differences, and high living costs. The demographic literature also emphasises regional differences: Around 1850, life expectancy is higher in rural and alpine regions than in urban areas and in the lowlands; before the First World War, the situation is reversed, life expectancy is higher in cities and in the lowlands. The fact that the hygienic-sanitarian measures in particular had their effect here is particularly suggested by the sharp decline in infant mortality. The lower decline in the Alpine and rural regions seems to confirm that hygiene practices and sanitation measures were implemented less quickly in those regions. For adults, progress in mortality is lower and regional differences smaller. The increasing economic differences between the regions do not seem to have an immediate impact on life expectancy and mortality risks in adulthood. I analyse economic development, life expectancy and mortality rates in the districts of Switzerland between 1888 and 1990. What influence did medical improvements and hygienic-sanitary reforms have on regional mortality rates? What was the role of better nutrition and economic modernisation in regional differences in mortality? And what influence did Switzerland's strongly federalist political system have on these developments? And finally, do differences persist over the 20th centuries?

No extended abstract or paper available

 Presented in Session 152. The Demographic Effects of Shocks, Stress and Economic Development