Secondhand Champions: These Cantons Are Driving the Circular Economy

On the online marketplace Ricardo, around 69% of all listings published in 2025 and 70% of successfully sold items were secondhand. In a recent analysis, Ricardo highlights the cantons where the highest number of pre-owned items are being passed on: while a large share of the total secondhand volume comes from populous cantons such as Zurich and Bern, smaller cantons such as Schwyz and Appenzell Ausserrhoden are the most active drivers of Switzerland’s circular economy on a per capita basis.

For this analysis, the online marketplace Ricardo compared the number of secondhand listings published in 2025 with the respective population of each Swiss canton*. The study shows that large and densely populated cantons account for the majority of secondhand volume on Ricardo: around 23% of all secondhand listings published in 2025 originated from users in the canton of Zurich, around 12% from the canton of Bern and 10% from Aargau. Together, these three cantons contributed approximately 45% of Ricardo’s total secondhand supply.

A look at the most popular categories in terms of both supply and demand reveals a clear nationwide trend: last year, unused items most frequently found a second life on Ricardo in the categories “Home & Living,” “Clothing & Accessories,” and “Collectibles & Rare Items.”

Per Capita: Canton of Schwyz Is the Secondhand Champion

While Switzerland’s larger cantons generate the highest overall volumes on Ricardo, the per capita analysis shows that smaller cantons are leading the way as true secondhand champions.

At the top of the ranking is the canton of Schwyz, where in 2025 an average of around 1.5 used items per resident were listed on Ricardo. In this Central Swiss canton, secondhand items were most frequently listed in the category “Home & Living,” closely followed by “Collectibles & Rare Items.”

Appenzell Ausserrhoden and Solothurn rank second and third in terms of per capita activity (each with around 1.4 secondhand listings per resident). At the bottom of the ranking and well below the Swiss average of around 1.1 secondhand items listed per resident are the cantons of Geneva with around 0.3 listings per resident, Vaud (0.5) and Valais (0.6).

The findings of Ricardo’s latest analysis make it clear that activity on the online marketplace is not necessarily a question of canton size and that Swiss regions differ significantly in their usage patterns and sustainability behaviour.

Secondhand Champions 2025 (Absolute Volume): Share of Total Volume

• Zurich: 23%
  
• Bern: 12%
  
• Aargau: 10%
  
• St. Gallen: 7%
  
• Lucerne: 6%
  

Secondhand Champions 2025 (Per Capita): Number of Secondhand Listings

• Schwyz: 1.5
  
• Appenzell Ausserrhoden: 1.4
  
• Solothurn: 1.4
  
• Aargau: 1.3
  
• Zug: 1.3
  

* Basis: Analysis of listings published (condition: used) on Ricardo between 01.01.2025 and 31.12.2025 in relation to the population of the Swiss cantons (Federal Statistical Office, 27.08.2025).