Land
Size, shape and altitude
How big is it, really?
Sri Lanka is 59% bigger than Switzerland.
Sri Lanka: 65,610 km² (2023) · Switzerland: 41,291 km² (2023)
How much coast is there?
Sri Lanka: 1,340 km (2026 edition) · Switzerland: 0 km (2026 edition)
How high can you climb?
Switzerland’s highest peak towers 2,110 m above Sri Lanka’s.
Sri Lanka: 2,524 m (2026 edition) · Switzerland: 4,634 m (2026 edition)
People
Who lives there, and how closely
How many people live there?
Sri Lanka has 2.4 times as many people as Switzerland.
Sri Lanka: 21.8 million (2025) · Switzerland: 9.09 million (2025)
How crowded is it?
Sri Lanka is 53% more densely populated than Switzerland.
Sri Lanka: 352 per km² (2025) · Switzerland: 230 per km² (2025)
How tall are the men?
Men in Switzerland are 10.7 cm taller than in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka: 168.1 cm (2019) · Switzerland: 178.7 cm (2019)
How tall are the women?
Women in Switzerland are 8.5 cm taller than in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka: 155.9 cm (2019) · Switzerland: 164.3 cm (2019)
How old is the typical person?
The typical person in Switzerland is 9.5 years older than in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka: 32.8 years (2023) · Switzerland: 42.3 years (2023)
How many children per woman?
Women in Sri Lanka have 0.7 more children on average than in Switzerland.
Sri Lanka: 1.95 children per woman (2024) · Switzerland: 1.29 children per woman (2024)
How many people are 65 or older?
20% of people in Switzerland are 65 or older, versus 12% in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka: 12.5% (2025) · Switzerland: 20.4% (2025)
How many Nobel laureates were born there?
Switzerland has produced 20.9 Nobel laureates per 10 million people, Sri Lanka 0.0.
Sri Lanka: 0 (2025) · Switzerland: 20.9 (2025)
How many official languages?
Switzerland has 4 official languages, Sri Lanka 2.
Sri Lanka: 2 (2026) · Switzerland: 4 (2026)
Money
What an economy looks like per person
How big is the economy?
Switzerland’s economy is 9.6 times the size of Sri Lanka’s.
Sri Lanka: $109 billion (2025) · Switzerland: $1.04 trillion (2025)
How much is produced per person?
Switzerland produces 6 times as much per person as Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka: Int$17,065 (2025) · Switzerland: Int$102,513 (2025)
How evenly is income shared?
Income is more unequally shared in Sri Lanka than in Switzerland (Gini 3.9 points higher).
Sri Lanka: 37.7 (2019) · Switzerland: 33.8 (2022)
How many people are looking for work?
Unemployment is 4.9% in Switzerland, versus 4.0% in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka: 4% (2025) · Switzerland: 4.9% (2025)
How much goes to the military?
Sri Lanka spends 1.4% of its GDP on the military, Switzerland 0.7%.
Sri Lanka: 1.4% (2024) · Switzerland: 0.7% (2024)
How expensive is it?
Switzerland’s price level (US = 100) is 3.8× Sri Lanka’s.
Sri Lanka: 29% (2025) · Switzerland: 112% (2025)
Health
Long lives, small beginnings
How much is spent on health?
Switzerland spends 88 times as much on health per person as Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka: $134 (2023) · Switzerland: $11,784 (2023)
How long do people live?
People in Switzerland live 6.7 years longer than in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka: 77.7 years (2024) · Switzerland: 84.4 years (2024)
How many babies don’t reach their first birthday?
A baby in Sri Lanka is 53% more likely to die before turning one than in Switzerland.
Sri Lanka: 5.2 per 1,000 (2024) · Switzerland: 3.4 per 1,000 (2024)
How many doctors are there?
Switzerland has 3.9 times as many doctors per person as Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka: 1.1 per 1,000 (2023) · Switzerland: 4.5 per 1,000 (2022)
How common is obesity?
13% of adults in Switzerland are obese, versus 11% in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka: 11.2% (2024) · Switzerland: 12.9% (2024)
How many adults smoke?
23% of adults in Switzerland smoke, versus 21% in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka: 20.7% (2024) · Switzerland: 23.1% (2024)
Everyday life
Plates, glasses and happiness
How do people rate their lives?
People in Switzerland rate their lives 3.00 points higher than in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka: 4.01 (2025) · Switzerland: 7.02 (2025)
How much do people drink?
Adults in Switzerland drink 3.5 times as much alcohol as in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka: 2.5 litres (2023) · Switzerland: 8.8 litres (2023)
How much meat is on the menu?
Switzerland has 5.5 times as much meat per person as Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka: 11.6 kg (2023) · Switzerland: 64 kg (2023)
How much food is there per day?
Switzerland has 727 kcal more food per person per day than Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka: 2,675 kcal (2023) · Switzerland: 3,402 kcal (2023)
How long do people work?
Workers in Sri Lanka put in 524 more hours a year than in Switzerland.
Sri Lanka: 2,053 hours (2023) · Switzerland: 1,529 hours (2023)
How long do people go to school?
Adults in Switzerland went to school 3.2 years longer than in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka: 10.8 years (2023) · Switzerland: 13.9 years (2023)
How many tourists visit?
Switzerland welcomed 32 times as many tourists per resident as Sri Lanka (2019).
Sri Lanka: 0.03 (2022) · Switzerland: 1.04 (2022)
Connected
Online, electrified, urban
How many people are online?
97% of people in Switzerland are online, versus 55% in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka: 55% (2024) · Switzerland: 97% (2025)
Who has electricity at home?
Sri Lanka and Switzerland are practically level.
Sri Lanka: 100% (2024) · Switzerland: 100% (2024)
How many live in cities?
86% of people in Switzerland live in cities, versus 20% in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka: 20% (2025) · Switzerland: 86% (2025)
How many phones per person?
Sri Lanka has 133 mobile subscriptions per 100 people, Switzerland 129.
Sri Lanka: 133 (2024) · Switzerland: 129 (2024)
How much railway is there?
Switzerland’s railway network is 2.6 times as long as Sri Lanka’s.
Sri Lanka: 1,562 km (2019) · Switzerland: 4,122 km (2021)
How much do they fly?
Airlines from Switzerland fly 17 times as many passengers per resident as those from Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka: 0.18 (2023) · Switzerland: 3.05 (2023)
Planet
Air, forests and energy
How much of the land is forest?
Forest covers 34% of Sri Lanka, but only 32% of Switzerland.
Sri Lanka: 34% (2023) · Switzerland: 32.4% (2023)
How much CO₂ does each person emit?
The average person in Switzerland emits 4 times as much CO₂ as someone in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka: 0.9 t (2024) · Switzerland: 3.6 t (2024)
How green is the power grid?
68% of Switzerland’s electricity is renewable, versus 62% in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka: 61.6% (2025) · Switzerland: 67.8% (2025)
How clean is the air?
The air in Sri Lanka carries 2.3 times as much fine dust as in Switzerland.
Sri Lanka: 20.7 µg/m³ (2024) · Switzerland: 9 µg/m³ (2024)
Safety
Measured risk, not vibes
How common is murder?
You are 5.5 times as likely to be murdered in Sri Lanka as in Switzerland.
Sri Lanka: 3.3 per 100k (2019) · Switzerland: 0.6 per 100k (2023)
How dangerous are the roads?
Roads in Sri Lanka are 4.8 times as deadly as in Switzerland.
Sri Lanka: 11.5 per 100k (2021) · Switzerland: 2.4 per 100k (2021)
Climate
What the year feels like
How warm is it?
Sri Lanka is on average 20.3 °C warmer than Switzerland.
Sri Lanka: 26.8°C (2016–2025 avg) · Switzerland: 6.5°C (2016–2025 avg)
How much rain falls?
Sri Lanka gets 14% more rain than Switzerland.
Sri Lanka: 1,839 mm (2016–2025 avg) · Switzerland: 1,616 mm (2016–2025 avg)
Quick answers
Is Sri Lanka bigger than Switzerland?
Sri Lanka is larger. Sri Lanka is 59% bigger than Switzerland.
Which has more people, Sri Lanka or Switzerland?
Sri Lanka has 2.4 times as many people as Switzerland (2025 estimates).
Where do people live longer, Sri Lanka or Switzerland?
People in Switzerland live 6.7 years longer than in Sri Lanka. Life expectancy at birth is 77.7 years in Sri Lanka and 84.4 in Switzerland.
Are people taller in Sri Lanka or Switzerland?
Men in Switzerland are 10.7 cm taller than in Sri Lanka (NCD-RisC, cohort born 2019).
