Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

IMMIGRATION

EU immigration: Switzerland’s foreign workers in numbers

Foreign nationals living in Switzerland account for nearly 25 percent of the country’s population. Official figures reveal a lot of interesting facts about these people.

Published: 22 September 2020 17:36 CEST
EU immigration: Switzerland’s foreign workers in numbers
Foreigners come to Switzerland from many countries. Photo by AFP

This information is even more relevant ahead of the nationwide referendum on September 27th, which seeks to restrict the number of EU immigrants coming to Switzerland. 

How many foreign nationals live in Switzerland?

Figures released by the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) show that 18,386 foreigners came to Switzerland between January and March 2020, which is 3,013 people more than in the same period last year. 

According to Federal Statistical Office, out of 2,176 million foreign nationals who live in Switzerland, the majority – about 1,434 million — come from the EU and EFTA states

The others (about 248,000 in total) are from non-EU countries like Kosovo, Macedonia and Turkey.

Immigrants from Africa, America (North and South) and Asia add up to around 365,000.

Switzerland's total population is just over 8.5 million.

READ MORE: EXPLAINED: Why Switzerland's EU free movement referendum could impact much more than immigration 

What are the main nationalities of Switzerland’s foreigners?

Italian (321,000), German (307,000), Portuguese (260,000) and French (139,000) citizens make up the majority of immigrants from the European Union.

The roughly 42,000 Britons who live in Switzerland are not counted in the EU statistics since the UK’s exit from the bloc.

Where in Switzerland do foreigners live?

A study released in June by the University of Geneva found “a strong foreign presence” in and around large cities, which are close to economic centres and job opportunities — such as the shores of Lake Geneva or Lake Zurich. 

The highest concentration of foreigners (62.4 percent) can be found in the Crissier suburb of Lausanne, according to the study.

The lowest number of foreign nationals, on the other hand, is in Röthenbach, located in the Bernese Emmental region, where there are only 37 foreigners among 1,172 residents.

The distribution of different nationalities across Switzerland varies widely and in many cases is language and geography-based. For instance, Germans, French, and Italians live mostly in their respective linguistic regions.

The Portuguese and Turks are usually concentrated in neighbourhoods with relatively cheap housing, regardless of the canton, researchers found.

“One can wonder about the existence of network effects, which would push the new members to establish themselves in the immediate entourage of the diaspora”, the study's authors noted.

Why do immigrants come to Switzerland?

According to research from University of Neuchâtel, most (36 percent) come for work or education. 

Looking at individual countries, the percentage of those who immigrate for professional reasons is 50 percent for EU and EFTA nationals, 46 percent for the UK, and 40 percent for North America.

Where are EU citizens working in Switzerland?

University of Neuchâtel showed that 60 percent of immigrants work in 'elementary occupations', defined as ‘routine tasks which mainly require the use of hand-held tools and often some physical effort’.

Nearly 50 percent are employed in factories, 40 percent in craft and related trades, and 30 percent in service and sales.

A quarter or less have managerial-level jobs or are considered as ‘professionals’, meaning that their jobs require a degree.

Other interesting facts:

• Over 37 percent of Switzerland’s population have migration background; 24 percent of them have foreign citizenship, while the rest are Swiss either by birth or naturalisation. 

• In 2018, the last year for which data is available, over 967,000 foreigners were granted Swiss citizenship. Once naturalised, these people no longer show in statistics as foreign residents.

 

 

 


 

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

MOVING TO SWITZERLAND

Migration and ageing: How Switzerland’s population is changing

The number of people living in Switzerland is growing while the population is increasingly getting older, according to new official figures.

Published: 24 August 2023 14:52 CEST
Migration and ageing: How Switzerland's population is changing

A lot is said about Switzerland’s population as it nears the 9-million mark. 

On the one hand, many people – including businesses and other employers – want to see the Swiss population boosted through immigration to help fill job vacancies.

But others – including politicians leaning to the right of centre – have spoken of their fears that Switzerland’s population is growing too fast and piling pressure on infrastructure. 

READ ALSO: How immigration is impacting Switzerland

So here’s what we’ve learned from official figures about the development of the population in the Alpine country released by the Federal Statistical Office on Thursday. 

Is the population actually growing?

Yes – slightly. At the end of 2022, more than 8.8 million people lived in Switzerland – a 0.9-percent increase compared to 2021, the figures show. 

Compared to EU countries, Switzerland recorded a similar growth rate to Denmark and Liechtenstein (+1.0 percent each). At the top of the table were Malta, Iceland and the Czech Republic (with growth rates of around +3 percent). Bringing up the rear was Greece with negative growth of -0.6 percent.

People stand at the station in Grindelwald, Switzerland, in January 2023.

People stand at the station in Grindelwald, Switzerland, in January 2023. Photo by Luke Tanis on Unsplash

The stats show that the population growth in Switzerland is growing at a slower pace than before 2017, ranging between +0.7 percent and +0.8 percent over the last five years. In 2022, it was slightly above the values of the previous years at +0.9 percent.

READ MORE: OPINION: Switzerland can be thankful to ‘foreigners’ as population nears 9 million mark

How many foreign nationals live in Switzerland?

Of the total 8,815,400 inhabitants, 6,519,400 were Swiss nationals (74 percent) and 2,296,000 were foreign nationals (26 percent).

The number of Swiss nationals increased by 24,800 (+0.4 percent compared to 2021), while the number of permanent foreign residents increased by 51,800 (+2.3 percent compared to 2021).

The population in the canton of Schaffhausen saw the strongest increase, with a rise of 1.5 percent compared to the previous year.

The Swiss resident population grew most in 2022 in the canton of Fribourg (+0.8 percent), while the foreign resident population grew most in the canton of Nidwalden (+6.7 percent or 456 people).

READ ALSO:

How is migration and emigration impacting growth?

Migration is the main factor fuelling Switzerland’s population growth, the Federal Statistical Office said.

In 2022, Switzerland registered 190,900 people coming to live in the country. Of these, 21,800 were Swiss nationals and 169,100 were foreign.

Around 122,100 people moved abroad from Switzerland, including 31,300 Swiss nationals and 90,900 foreign nationals. That means that both immigration and emigration increased compared to 2021 (+15.2 percent and +4.6 percent respectively). However, it should be noted that it was more difficult to move between countries during the Covid pandemic, which was still having an impact in 2021. 

In 2022, German nationals were the largest group of people to move to Switzerland, accounting for 24,200 immigrations. The number of Swiss nationals moving to Switzerland stood at 21,800.

Among the foreign people who immigrated or emigrated, German, Italian, French, Portuguese and Spanish nationals were the most strongly represented. Together they accounted for 46 percent of immigrations and 51 percent of emigrations of foreigners.

The international migration balance, i.e. the difference between people moving into Switzerland from abroad and those moving away, increased by 19,900 to 68,800 people. In the cantons of Basel-City, Basel-Country and Appenzell Ausserrhoden, the percentage change in international net migration compared to 2021 was the greatest. Glarus is the only canton that recorded a decrease in net migration compared to 2021.

How is demographic ageing changing the population make-up?

Switzerland’s population continues to get older as people live longer – a trend being seen in many other countries, including neighbouring Germany.

The number of people aged 65 and over went up from over 1.6 million to over 1.69 million (+1.8 percent) between 2021 and 2022. It increased in all cantons compared to the previous year but was strongest in central Switzerland (+2.5 percent), especially in the cantons of Schwyz and Obwalden (+3.0 percent each).

People walk in Bern's main station.

People walk in Bern’s main station. Photo: Timon Studler/Unsplash

In 2022, the permanent resident population of Switzerland comprised 485,600 people aged 80 and over, compared to 472,000 in 2021 (+2.9 percent). With the exception of Appenzell Innerrhoden, where one person less was counted in this age group than in the previous year, all cantons recorded an increase. The strongest rise was registered in the canton of Nidwalden with 5.1 percent or 121 more people.

The number of people aged 100 and over also increased. In 2022, 1,948 people in this age group were living in Switzerland, compared to 1,888 in 2021 (+3.2 percent – an increase of 60 people).

Between 2021 and 2022, the growth of those over 100 was greatest in the canton of Thurgau. In the three cantons of Nidwalden, Appenzell Ausserrhoden and Zug, the numbers remained unchanged and in 11 cantons they declined (Graubünden, Schaffhausen, Uri, Glarus, Appenzell-Innerrhoden, Zurich, St. Gallen, Lucerne, Schwyz, Bern and Valais).

Women outnumber men in the ageing population in Switzerland. Every fifth woman (928,600 or 20.9 percent) and every sixth man (763 000; 17.4 percent) is older than 64. The proportion of women in the population increases with age. Among people aged 80 and over, 294,500 were women (6.6 percent) and 191,200 men (4.4 percent). Meanwhile, among the ‘centenarians and older’ category, there are four times as many women as men (1,601 and 347 respectively).

SHOW COMMENTS