At a glance

Iconomix is the Swiss National Bank’s educational programme. Together with teachers from all over Switzerland, we strengthen the economic and financial literacy of young people. We do this with high-quality teaching units for economics and general studies classes at upper secondary schools.

Around 1,800 upper secondary level
teachers actively use Iconomix resources
to teach economics and general studies.

Economics for everyone

  • We offer around 40 teaching units in up to four languages – with content that is as up to date as well founded, each unit including activities and didactic tips.
  • Our units are specially designed for teachers at upper secondary schools, but are also used at schools below that level, as well as at those above, such as universities and universities of applied sciences.
  • Our content is free; it is complementary to basic teaching materials and can be flexibly adapted to lesson plans and classes thanks to its modular structure.

Iconomix – the core values

The teaching units provided by Iconomix systematically promote economic literacy and equality of opportunity in Switzerland. To meet this overarching mission the programme is guided by clear values:

We are politically neutral, and act independently and consistently in the interests of teachers and students.

We develop the content of our educational programme on the basis of current facts validated by research.

We use methods and didactics designed to ensure successful, sustained and efficient learning.

We are open to dialogue and respect the diversity of people and opinions in Switzerland.

We work for innovative education that proactively harnesses the potential of digitalisation.

Reach and use

The relevant metric for measuring the reach of Iconomix is the number of active users. For this we count the number of teachers at upper secondary level who are registered at iconomix.ch and log onto the platform at least once in a calendar year.

In 2024, around 1,800 teachers at Swiss upper secondary schools made active use of the Iconomix web platform. In relation to the target group – teachers of economics and general studies at upper secondary schools – this translates into a reach of around 42%. All three main linguistic areas of Switzerland have a similarly positive showing in terms of usage and spread.

Some 15% of the teachers of economics and the humanities at Swiss upper secondary schools logged onto Iconomix.ch five times or more in 2023. We regard them as power users, nearly two-fifths of the teachers at upper secondary level who actively used Iconomix come under this category. The power user figure serves as an indicator of the intensity with which iconomix.ch is used.

Iconomix user map

The Iconomix interactive map shows all upper secondary schools in Switzerland that had at least one teacher logged into the Iconomix web platform in 2024 as well as the number of such active teachers. A total of 373 schools are recorded on the map. If we consider only public schools according to Swiss Federal Statistical Office (SFSO) data, our coverage is 85%. This means that, in 2024, at 85% of public upper secondary schools, at least one teacher was logged into the platform.

Iconomix – facts and figures

  • Teachers
    Of all teachers of economics and general studies at upper secondary schools, 42% use Iconomix
     
  • Schools
    There are active Iconomix users at 85% of all public upper secondary schools
     
  • Community
    More than 200 upper secondary school teachers sign up per year
     
  • Use
    A high proportion of users are recurring users
     
  • Recommendations
    Our growth mainly stems from word-of-mouth among teachers
     
  • Topicality
    Units and ‘News’ site are updated continuously
«This type of sustained learning, with games and simulations, delivers lasting results.»

Financing and responsibility

Iconomix is 100% financed and supported by the Swiss National Bank (SNB). Its basic funding (covered by financial resources for third-party services) was limited in 2011 to CHF 0.7 million per year (approximately EUR 0.65 million). The staff numbers in this specialist unit comprise 6 permanent employees (equivalent to 3.6 full-time equivalents) and 2 interns.

This allocation of financial and human resources has proven to be sustainable over the years. Not included in the basic funding is the periodic relaunch of the web platform, which is necessary every four to five years. The last relaunch was in November 2021.

Iconomix seeks to maintain high standards of accountability, effectiveness and efficiency vis-à-vis its sponsor, the SNB. Some of its key figures are published regularly, both in the SNB’s annual Sustainability Report and on the Iconomix web platform (‘About us’).

Iconomix milestones

2007

2007

In November, the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank gives the go-ahead to set up an economic and financial literacy programme for upper secondary schools, thus following the example of other central banks. The launch of the programme is scheduled to coincide with the SNB’s centenary in 2007.

2012

2012

The Iconomix educational programme celebrates its first five years with a new-look website for its users. All units are grouped in one category and can be filtered according to criteria.

2017

2017

Iconomix celebrates its 10th birthday. To mark the occasion, the website is relaunched. The focus of the relaunch is on personalisation and mobile-friendliness. The first steps are also taken to gradually replace the static PDFs by fillable PDF files.

2022

2022

The Iconomix website is revised again, with the user interface being the main point of focus this time. The new design is lighter and brighter. An optimised colour and image concept rounds everything off.

Today

Today

Students’ media behaviour changes, and Iconomix keeps pace. Examples of innovative learning formats are the ‘Schweizer Wirtschaftsgeschichte’ video book (2023), the ‘Finanzkompetenz’ learning platform (2024), and the online magazines ‘Lohn und Arbeit’ (2024) and ‘Geld und Wert’ (2025) – all available in German and French.

2027: Outlook

2027: Outlook

“In 2027, Iconomix will turn 20 – my wish for this anniversary is for us to establish ourselves sustainably as an educational partner helping teachers at Swiss upper secondary schools convey economic thinking in up-to-date ways and prepare young people for the challenges of the future.”

Manuel Wälti, Head of Iconomix

A selection of our partners

Education always involves teamwork. Accordingly, Iconomix would like to thank the partners who help us create a modern teaching programme for economics and social studies at upper secondary level.