Cooling and heating degree days - Cities and FUAs — Cooling degree in Zurich
Zurich: Cooling and heating degree days - Cities and FUAs — Cooling degree was 35.69 Degree days in 2025. ◆ Volatile
Cooling and heating degree days - Cities and FUAs — Cooling degree in Zurich, 1950–2025
Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Measured in Degree days.
Analysis
The most recent figure for cooling and heating degree days - cities and fuas — cooling degree in Zurich is 35.69 Degree days, measured in 2025.
The figure is down 50.0% on the previous year and down 62.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, cooling and heating degree days - cities and fuas — cooling degree in Zurich peaked at 160.55 Degree days in 2003 and was at its lowest, 10.3 Degree days, in 1954.
That places Zurich 841st out of 1323 regions with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 30.39 Degree days | 10.3 Degree days | 68.19 Degree days | 10 |
| 1960s | 25.78 Degree days | 14.51 Degree days | 45.78 Degree days | 10 |
| 1970s | 22.38 Degree days | 10.84 Degree days | 35.64 Degree days | 10 |
| 1980s | 31.95 Degree days | 18.18 Degree days | 57.13 Degree days | 10 |
| 1990s | 39.21 Degree days | 18.08 Degree days | 66.6 Degree days | 10 |
| 2000s | 52.32 Degree days | 30.14 Degree days | 160.55 Degree days | 10 |
| 2010s | 62.65 Degree days | 31.29 Degree days | 106.84 Degree days | 10 |
| 2020s | 66.84 Degree days | 29.86 Degree days | 107.61 Degree days | 6 |
More reference data data for Zurich
- Cooling and heating degree days - Cities and FUAs — Change in cooling -6.24 Degree days (2025)
- Cooling and heating degree days - Cities and FUAs 2,185 Degree days (2025)
- Cooling and heating degree days - Cities and FUAs — Change in heating -408.23 Degree days (2025)
- Precipitation - Cities and FUAs — Extreme precipitation days 10.83 Days per year (2024)
- Precipitation - Cities and FUAs — Change in extreme precipitation 0.7137 Days per year (2024)
- Dependency ratio - Cities and FUAs 22.4 Percentage of population aged 15-64 years (2023)
- Wind threats - Cities and FUAs — Exposure to wind threats 0 Percentage of area (2023)
- Coastal flooding - Cities and FUAs — Built-up area exposure to 0 Percentage of built-up area (2022)
- Internet speed - Cities and FUAs — Downloading speed 13 Percentage of national value (2025)
- Internet speed - Cities and FUAs — Uploading speed 27.6 Percentage of national value (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is cooling and heating degree days - cities and fuas — cooling degree in Zurich?
- Cooling and heating degree days - cities and fuas — cooling degree in Zurich was 35.69 Degree days in 2025, according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
- What is the highest cooling and heating degree days - cities and fuas — cooling degree recorded in Zurich?
- The highest recorded value was 160.55 Degree days in 2003.
- What is the lowest cooling and heating degree days - cities and fuas — cooling degree recorded in Zurich?
- The lowest recorded value was 10.3 Degree days in 1954.
- How does Zurich rank for cooling and heating degree days - cities and fuas — cooling degree?
- Zurich ranks 841st out of 1323 regions with data for 2025.
- Is cooling and heating degree days - cities and fuas — cooling degree rising or falling in Zurich?
- Over the last ten years it is down 62.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Zurich data come from?
- The figures come from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as part of Cooling and heating degree days - Cities and FUAs — Cooling degree days. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 76 observations, free to reuse under OECD Terms and Conditions (attribution required).
About this data
<p align="justify">This dataset provides indicators of Cooling and Heating Degree Days (CDDs and HDDs) for FUAs and cities. CDDs and HDDs are measurements used to estimate energy usage based on outdoor temperature. CDD measures the demand for cooling, while HDD measures the demand for heating, both calculated relative to a baseline temperature.</p> <h3>Data sources and methodology</h3> <p align="justify"> The indicators use 0.1-degree resolution grids from the <a href=https://developers.google.com/earth-engine/datasets/catalog/ECMWF_ERA5_LAND_DAILY_AGGR>ERA5-Land dataset</a>. ERA5-Land is used as it provides harmonised, globally consistent coverage at fine spatial resolution (0.1 degree), enabling the production of comparable subnational indicators also where national meteorological data are not available at the required scale. Annual CDDs are the sum over a year of the differences between the daily mean outdoor air temperature and the threshold temperature when the outdoor temperature is above the threshold temperature. HDDs are the sum over a year of the differences between the threshold temperature and the daily mean outdoor air temperature when the outdoor temperature is below the threshold temperature. Threshold temperatures are set to 22°C for CDDs and 15°C for HDDs.</p> <p align="justify"> These estimates may differ from official subnational climate statistics due to differences in methodological approaches, such as the use of reanalysis based top down modelling versus in situ observations, along with variations in input data sources, spatial resolution, and the models and algorithms used to generate temperature estimates. </p> <h3>Defining FUAs and cities</h3> <p align="justify">The OECD, in cooperation with the EU, has developed a harmonised <a href="https://www.oecd.org/en/data/datasets/oecd-definition-of-cities-and-functional-urban-areas.html">definition of functional urban areas</a> (FUAs) to capture the economic and functional reach of cities based on daily commuting patterns <a href=https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264174108-en>(OECD, 2012)</a>. FUAs consist of: <ol> <li><b>A city</b> – defined by urban centres in the degree of urbanisation, adapted to the closest local administrative units to define a city.</li> <li><b>A commuting zone</b> – including all local areas where at least 15% of employed residents work in the city.</li> </ol> The delineation process includes: <ul> <li>Assigning municipalities surrounded by a single FUA to that FUA.</li> <li>Excluding non-contiguous municipalities.</li> </ul> <p> The correspondence table between SAUs and FUAs/cities is available in <a href=https://webfs-cfe.oecd.org/files/.Stat/cities_local_areas/fua_cities_sau_mapping.parquet>parquet </a> and <a href=https://webfs-cfe.oecd.org/files/.Stat/cities_local_areas/fua_cities_sau_mapping.csv>csv</a> format. </p> The definition identifies 1 272 FUAs and 1 269 cities in all OECD member countries except Costa Rica and three accession countries.</p> <h3>Cite this dataset</h3> <p>OECD Regions, cities and local areas database (<a href="http://data-explorer.oecd.org/s/1dj">Cooling and heating degree days - Cities and FUAs</a>), <a href=http://oe.cd/geostats>http://oe.cd/geostats</a></p> <h3>Further information</h3> <ul> <li> <a href=https://localdataportal.oecd.org/>OECD Local Data Portal </a> </li> <li> <a href=https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/oecd-regions-and-cities-at-a-glance-2024_f42db3bf-en.html/>OECD Regions and Cities at a Glance </a> </li> </ul> <p align="justify">For questions and/or comments, please email <a href="mailto:CitiesStat@oecd.org">CitiesStat@oecd.org</a>