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ZURICH

IN NUMBERS: How Zurich’s foreign population has more than doubled

The proportion of foreigners living in Switzerland’s largest city Zurich is now more than twice as high as it was 60 years ago. This is what the situation was then and now.

Published: 8 June 2022 12:32 CEST
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland. Photo: Pixabay
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland. Photo: Pixabay

With a population of 440,181 people, Zurich is not only the biggest Swiss city, but also has one of the highest concentrations of foreigners, according to latest data released by municipal authorities.

About 32 percent of the city’s permanent residents are currently immigrants, but what’s interesting to note is that their number has grown more than twofold in over half a century.

“Sixty years ago, around 64,000 foreigners lived in Zurich; today there are 140,000. The proportion of foreigners is currently more than twice as high as it was then (32.2 versus 14.5 percent)”, municipal authorities said in a press release.

READ MORE: Where do Switzerland’s foreigners all live?

One of the possible reasons for this growth in international residents — in Zurich as well as in Switzerland in general — was the the Free Movement of Persons agreement which Bern and Brussels signed in 1999, and which lifted restrictions on EU citizens wishing to live or work in Switzerland. 

There are, however, differences in demographics between 1962 and present time.

In 1962, Italians were the largest foreign group in Zurich, accounting for 44 percent of all foreigners, while today Germans constitute the largest group (23 percent).

This corresponds to the national trend, as Italians and Germans still make up the largest proportion of foreigners in Switzerland as a whole.

Image :Federal Statistical Office

Then and now

Zurich’s data also reveals other facts about its resident population, which could be of interest to anyone living in the city or planning to move there.

For instance:

  • Zurich experienced its first “growth spurt” in 1893, when the city counted 316,000 inhabitants.
  • The resident population grew rapidly in the 1940s and 1950s, and the highest number was reached in 1962: 440,180 people (only one less than presently)
  • By 1989, the population had fallen below 356,000 people.
  • Since the beginning of the 21 century, Zurich has been growing again, picking up in strength from 2010 onwards.

Today, Zurich is Switzerland’s economic powerhouse, with many international businesses located in its vicinity.

READ MORE: Jobs: Why Zurich has rebounded better than other Swiss cities from Covid

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ZURICH

Growth spurt: What Zurich needs to do to accommodate 2 million residents

Switzerland's biggest city Zurich is becoming more densely populated. With the population expected to pass the 2 million mark in the coming years authorities are devising plans to make it liveable for new residents.

Published: 29 April 2024 15:08 CEST
Growth spurt: What Zurich needs to do to accommodate 2 million residents

At the end of 2023, over 1.6 million people lived in Zurich, Switzerland’s most populous canton.

But this number is far from static.

The population is continuing to grow — so much so, that it will reach the 2-million mark in the coming years, cantonal authorities said in a press release.

This means an increase of around 450,000 people within the next two decades — a 28-percent growth rate, which is “significantly higher than the Swiss average.”

The primary reason for this hike, accounting for 49 percent of the increase, is immigration, followed by births (44 percent) and, to a lesser degree (7 percent), people moving to Zurich from other Swiss regions

On one hand, this is good news because “it is evidence of the canton’s attractiveness and economic prosperity,” authorities pointed out.

On the other, however, this demographic evolution will create a number of new problems and exacerbate the already existing ones.

That is why “strategic decisions are needed on how to handle challenges facing various areas,”  cantonal officials said.

‘Dealing with consequences’

With this ‘growth spurt,’ Zurich will experience many of the same challenges as Switzerland on the whole will, as demographers are expecting the country’s population to swell to 10 million (from the current 9 million) people in the coming years. 

Just as the federal government has started to think about the best ways to prepare the country’s infrastructure for the growing numbers, Zurich’s authorities too will be “shaping this growth” and “dealing with its consequences.”

To achieve this goal, they have launched the ‘Growth 2050” project to begin in the summer, which will  examine “which approach is most suitable for strategically addressing the challenges ahead,” according to the press release.

What exactly does this mean?

While the project’s findings will not be made public until 2027, authorities will have to ensure that Zurich’s infrastructure, such as housing, public transport, as well as school and healthcare systems, will not crumble under pressure, but be able to function optimally — from both the financial and practical perspectives — in the new context.

While all these areas are important, in Zurich’s case, housing appears to be a particular problem as more residents move into the canton.

With  tens of thousands of foreign nationals having settled in Zurich in the past few years, for instance, affordable housing had become scarcer — a situation that has continued to deteriorate and is expected to grow worse as more residents continue to arrive in the future.

READ ALSO: Zurich hit by affordable housing shortage amid record-high immigration

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