Bankers head the average income hierarchy in Switzerland, new research into income and bonuses by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office has revealed.

The average monthly income in Switzerland across all sectors was SFr5,823 ($5,734) in 2008 (pre-tax) and the average bonus of those 27.6 per cent of the Swiss work force that receive one was SFr13,068, up from SFr6,852 ten years ago.

In the banking sector the income is much higher than the national average, here staff make SFr9,127 a month on average.

Looking at what top managers in their individual industry make, it is again the banking sector that leads with SFr58,333, followed by the credit and insurance business with SFr47,469. The national average for top managers across all sectors is SFr23,942.

With regards to bonuses, the picture is similar. A little more than one quarter of Swiss employees receive bonuses, on average SFr13,068 annually. The highest-level employees in the Swiss banking sector receive bonuses about averaging SFr139,500.

The research also showed that there are local differences concerning the average income. The highest income levels are reached in the Zurich region (SFr12,667), followed by the north-western parts of Switzerland (SFr11,651) and the Geneva region next (SFr10,833). At the very bottom of this hierarchy is the canton of Ticino with an average income of only SFr3,901.

On average foreigners have received a higher pay than Swiss employees, the study also revealed.

This research is conducted by the statistical office every two years. For the 2008 data nearly 45,000 companies were questioned about how much they pay their employees.