Many residents of Switzerland admit to having stolen or deliberately not paid for something at some point in their adult life. That was revealed by the 2025 moneyland.ch Swiss theft survey of 1500 residents of French- and German-speaking Switzerland between the ages of 18 and 74. For the anonymous survey, participants were asked if and in which situations they stole goods or services, or deliberately did not pay for them. It is worth noting that there were likely survey participants who answered negatively because they have forgotten about incidents of theft, or do not want to admit them. For this reason, the survey results do not necessarily paint the full picture of theft in Switzerland.
The most common form of theft is “riding the rails” – or more precisely, using public transportation without a valid ticket. A high 40 percent of participants admitted to having deliberately done this at least once, and 27 percent have done it twice or more.
Theft in the workplace is the second most widespread form of stealing, with 29 percent of participants admitting to having done it. Stealing from Coop supermarkets and not paying for items at self-checkout tills (across all merchants) share the third place, with 25 percent each. These are followed by stealing from hotels and stealing from Migros supermarkets (24 percent each).
Table 1: Where Swiss steal
| Theft or failure to pay |
At least once |
| Public transportation |
40% |
| In the workplace |
29% |
| From Coop supermarkets |
25% |
| At self-checkout tills |
25% |
| From hotels |
24% |
| From Migros supermarkets |
24% |
| From restaurants |
21% |
| From kiosks |
21% |
| From Denner supermarkets |
20% |
| From Lidl supermarkets |
20% |
| From relatives and acquaintances |
20% |
| Deliberate failure to repay loans |
19% |
| From Aldi supermarkets |
18% |
| From clothing stores |
18% |
| From electronics stores |
17% |
| From pharmacies |
17% |
| From libraries |
17% |
| From banks |
17% |
| From the post office |
16% |
| From other stores |
19% |
“The threshold for riding a few stations on a tram or bus without a ticket is certainly lower than that for stealing from a shop,” comments moneyland.ch editor Dan Urner. “But it is somewhat surprising that a fifth of survey participants admit to having stolen from friends or relatives.”
Younger people are more likely to steal
The threshold for stealing seems to be lower for adults between the ages of 18 and 25 than it is for older residents. Young adults take the dubious first place across all of the situations included in the survey. A high 58 percent of participants between the ages of 18 and 25 admit to having used public transportation without a ticket at least once. What is more, one out of 10 young adults admitted to having done this regularly.
Of adults aged 26 to 49 years old, a lower portion of “just” 46 percent admit to having ridden on a train, bus, or tram without a valid ticket. The portion of adults between 50 and 74 years old that admits to having done this is much lower, at 28 percent. Participants in the oldest age group are also less likely to admit to theft across all other situations included in the survey.
Table 2: Top 10 by age group (at least one theft)
| Theft or failure to pay |
18 to 25 |
26 to 49 |
50 to 74 |
| Public transportation |
58% |
46% |
28% |
| From Coop supermarkets |
43% |
28% |
15% |
| At self-checkout tills |
42% |
30% |
13% |
| From Migros supermarkets |
39% |
29% |
14% |
| In the workplace |
37% |
35% |
19% |
| From hotels |
36% |
28% |
14% |
| From kiosks |
33% |
25% |
11% |
| From restaurants |
32% |
26% |
13% |
| From Denner supermarkets |
32% |
24% |
11% |
| From Lidl supermarkets |
31% |
24% |
10% |
“Younger generations seem to have a different relation to theft than older generations,” observes Dan Urner, with regards to the stark differences between age groups.
Theft habits of men and women compared
“According to the survey results, men are more likely to steal than women are – across all situations,” concludes moneyland.ch editor Dan Urner. This “gender gap” is especially large when it comes to stealing from restaurants. While 26 percent of male participants admit to having stolen from a restaurant at least one, only 17 percent of women admit to doing this.”
Large differences between genders are also visible when you look at theft from electronics stores (21 percent of men versus 13 percent of women) and theft from relatives and acquaintances (24 percent of men versus 16 percent of women).
Table 3: Top 10 by gender (at least one theft)
| Theft or failure to pay |
Men |
Women |
| Public transportation |
43% |
38% |
| In the workplace |
31% |
27% |
| From Migros supermarkets |
28% |
21% |
| From Coop supermarkets |
28% |
22% |
| At self-checkout tills |
28% |
22% |
| From restaurants |
26% |
17% |
| From hotels |
26% |
21% |
| From kiosks |
24% |
17% |
| From relatives and acquaintances |
24% |
16% |
| From Denner supermarkets |
23% |
17% |
Residents of German-speaking Switzerland are more likely to steal
Differences between linguistic regions are also interesting. Participants in German-speaking Switzerland are more likely to admit to theft than residents of French-speaking Switzerland. It is noteworthy that German-speaking Swiss are more likely to steal at kiosks than their French-speaking counterparts. One-fourth of participants in German-speaking Switzerland admit to having stolen from kiosks at least once, compared to just 10 percent of those in French-speaking Switzerland.
Table 4: Top 10 by linguistic region
| Theft or failure to pay |
German-speaking
regions |
French-speaking
regions |
| Public transportation |
43% |
34% |
| In the workplace |
32% |
21% |
| From Coop supermarkets |
29% |
18% |
| From hotels |
28% |
15% |
| At self-checkout tills |
28% |
18% |
| From Migros supermarkets |
27% |
18% |
| From restaurants |
25% |
13% |
| From kiosks |
25% |
10% |
| From Denner supermarkets |
24% |
12% |
| From Lidl supermarkets |
24% |
11% |
Methodology
The study is based on a representative online survey carried out by market research institute Ipsos as commissioned by moneyland.ch. The survey included 1500 residents of German-speaking and French-speaking Switzerland between the ages of 18 and 74.
Survey participants were asked if they have deliberately stolen something or deliberately failed to pay for a paid service in their adult life. Information was collected anonymously. Participants could choose to abstain from answering a question. Participants could choose between these answers:
- Never
- Once
- Twice
- More than twice
- Frequently
When the term “at least once” is used in the study, the corresponding figures account for all answers (minus abstentions) apart from Never.
More on this topic:
Detailed results of the 2025 Swiss theft survey (German PDF)
