Nearly one in two people are dependent on their smartphone in Switzerland, according to a survey – rts.ch

Frequently checking your screen to make sure you haven’t missed messages, feeling stressed when your smartphone is not within reach or the battery is low, or feeling a sense of isolation if you are deprived of its machine: these responses to the survey are particularly widespread among young people and in French-speaking Switzerland. However, gender, level of education or income have no significant influence on smartphone dependence.

Smartphone addiction or nomophobia (from the English No-Mobile-Phone-Phobia) refers to pathological symptoms and feelings of anxiety or changes in behavior when the smartphone is not available.

According to the Comparis survey, more than 40% of those questioned show clear to pronounced signs of nomophobia. They obtained at least 30 points on a scale of 0 to 50. Proportionally, it is mainly young people aged 16 to 35 who are affected by the overuse of smartphones.

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Difference between town and country

There is a city-rural divide. Among the population in rural areas, 28% say they can do without their cell phone without any problem, compared to only 19% of survey participants living in cities. On the other hand, 43% of urban dwellers are significantly to strongly affected by nomophobia, a rate which falls to 34% in the rural population.

Differences also appear between linguistic regions. Smartphone addiction is clearly more widespread in French-speaking Switzerland than in German-speaking Switzerland. In French-speaking Switzerland, 47% show at least obvious signs of nomophobia. In German-speaking Switzerland, they are only 37%.

The survey was carried out by the market research institute Innofact at the request of comparis.ch in October 2024 among 1,050 people in all regions of Switzerland.

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