Swiss public sector employees received an average wage increase of 3.3 percent in 2025, more than double the 1.9 percent rise recorded in the private services sector, according to new data from Switzerland's Federal Statistical Office (BFS). After accounting for Switzerland's low inflation rate of 0.2 percent, real wages across the economy grew by 1.6 percent — the strongest increase since 2009 — but the gap between public and private sector pay drew sharp criticism. The figures have added political fuel to a recently launched initiative by the Young Liberals (Jungfreisinnige) called the "Verwaltungsbremse" (administration brake), which would cap federal personnel expenditure growth to the rate of the national median wage, with party president Jonas Lüthy arguing that public sector pay growth is "completely decoupled from economic reality."