Emergency contraception (EC) is available in Switzerland: LNG and UPA EC pills, as well as the use of Cu-IUD for EC, are included in national policies for family planning. LNG and UPA EC pills can be procured from community pharmacies, medical facilities and sexual health counseling centers. In some cantons EC is included in drug reimbursement policies.
- Sexual & reproductive health background information
- Accessibility & prescription status
- Cost
- Guidelines & common practices
- EC use
Sexual & reproductive health background information
| Female population aged 15-49 | Mean age at first sexual intercourse | Mean age at birth of first child | Total fertility rate | % use of modern contraceptive methods | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Estimate | 1,858,0001 | 17.32 | 30.23 | 1.524 | 77.5%5 |
| Year | 2010 | 2005 | 2010 | 2011 | 1994-95 |
Accessibility & prescription status
Pharmacy counseling is mandatory in Switzerland for emergency contraception: a prescription is not needed, but a paid consultation with the community pharmacy team is mandatory before purchasing either LNG or UPA EC pills. UPA EC was introduced in the Swiss market in 2013 as a prescription product, but switched to non-prescription in November 2015.
Regulations require pharmacy staff to conduct a formal counselling session and complete a questionnaire before dispensing ECPs. Digital tools and apps have been developed and piloted to enhance consistency and support privacy and confidentiality in the counselling process. In May 2026 the Swiss government is debated a motion to ease access to EC pills by removing the mandatory pharmacist counselling requirement.
Cost
| Type of EC | Approximate Cost | Brand(s) Available |
|---|---|---|
| LNG | € 19 | NorLevo, Levonorgestrel Sandoz, Levonesse |
| UPA | € 29 to 33 | ellaOne, Ulipristal Sandoz, Ullanesse |
In pharmacies, the price paid for EC pills includes the cost of the counseling services provided by the pharmacy team.
In some cantons, LNG EC is partially reimbursed when purchased from special family planning centers. In these cases, LNG EC costs € 12 when purchased by women who are 20 years old or younger and € 20 when purchased by women who are over the age of 20. In pharmacies, the price of LNG EC is composed of the price of the pill as well as the price of counseling, which is demanded by law.
Guidelines & common practices
In Switzerland, a volunteer-led, non-profit association called the Interdisciplinary Group of Experts on Emergency Contraception (IENK), brings together experts in the fields of pharmacy, medicine, midwifery and sexual health to develop guidelines and practical tools to standardise and improve counselling and provision of EC. IENK is politically and religiously independent and has no commercial interests.
IENK’s publications and tools are open-access and available in French and German. The latest update of EC guidelines and tools was done in May 2026. These include the following and are available here: www.ienk.ch/fr/
- IENK group recommendations for the dispensing of levonorgestrel and ulipristal (May 2026)
- Protocol for the dispensing of oral emergency contraception (2026)
- Comments on the dispensing protocol (2026)
- Emergency contraception in the context of hormonal contraception (08-2026)
- Dispensing protocol for oral emergency contraception (2026)
IENK is also involved in the development of an electronic counseling and documentation tool to support community pharmacies, which are – by law – obliged to keep records regarding EC pills provision for a 20-years period.
EC use
| Ever use of EC (among women 16 to 20 years old) | EC use in the last 12 months | Knowledge (among women 16 to 20 years old) | Repeated use of EC in last 12 months | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Estimate | 20%6 | n/a | 89,3%6 | n/a |
| Year | 2002 | n/a | 2002 | n/a |
Sources
1 United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. World Population Prospects: The 2010 Revision. New York, 2011.
2 Durex Global Sex Survey Results 2005. Retrieved 20 June 2013, from http://www.durex.com/en-jp/sexualwellbeingsurvey/documents/gss2005result.pdf.
3 United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Statistical Division Database. Mean Age of Women at Birth of First Child by Country and Year. Updated 23 November 2012. Retrieved 19 June 2013, from http://w3.unece.org/pxweb/dialog/varval.asp?ma=04_GEFHAge1stChild_r&path=../database/STAT/30-GE/02-Families_households/&lang=1&ti=Mean+age+of+women+at+birth+of+first+child.
4 European health for all database (HFA-DB), World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe. Total fertility rate. Retrieved 18 June 2013, from http://data.euro.who.int/hfadb/.
5 United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. World Contraceptive Use 2012. New York, 2012.
6 Ottesen S, Narring F, Renteria SC, Michaud PA. Emergency contraception among teenagers in Switzerland: a cross-sectional survey on the sexuality of 16- to 20-year-olds. J Adolesc Health. 2002 Jul;31(1):101-10. doi: 10.1016/s1054-139x(01)00412-8. PMID: 12090971.
Last update: October 2026
Previous update: July 2026, March 2023, November 2021, December 2020, March 2016