Foreign residents rate certain aspects of life in Switzerland poorly, while giving high scores to others, a new global survey has revealed.
Tens of thousands of foreign nationals come to work in Switzerland each year, but the reality of living in this expensive country and their inability to make friends gets many of them down.
This is one of the findings from the latest Expat Insider Survey released by InterNations, which places Switzerland in the 29th place out of 46 countries included.
This year’s ranking was based on the responses of 10,000 foreign residents living and working in 46 countries. The survey ranks everything from quality of life to ease of settling in and how easy is it to make friends in the country. It also looks at the job prospects for foreign residents.
Panama (1st place), Colombia (2nd), and Mexico (3rd) took the top spots in this year’s ranking.
The report notes that “the quality of life may be high in Switzerland, but expats continue to struggle with unaffordable housing and making local friends.”
But even though Switzerland is in the lower half of the ranking this year, it scored better than in 2024, when it was in the 34th place.
What does the survey show about Switzerland?
On the positive side, the Quality of Life Index ranks Switzerland in the 11th place overall, and 1st for political stability, the opportunity to travel, and the natural environment.
Also appreciated by foreign residents are the air quality (4th), personal safety (9th), opportunities for recreational sports (10th), the availability of public transportation (8th), and the quality of healthcare (11th).
In terms of downsides, two topics dominate: the difficulty of making local friends (language being one of the reasons cited – read more about it below), and the high cost of living.
The results for the latter category are, however, mixed.
While expats complained about the cost of housing and health insurance, many said that they appreciate the state of the Swiss economy (3rd); agree that moving to Switzerland has somewhat improved their career prospects (16th); and find they are paid fairly for their work (18th).
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‘Difficult dialect’
Commenting on the challenges of establishing contact with the local population, an Irish national living in Basel found that “the local dialect is difficult to understand even with a relatively good knowledge of German. I think this makes it harder for expats to mix with the local community. This, combined with the overall attitude towards foreigners in the country, can make it hard to make friends.”
Another respondent, a US expat in Zurich, had a more positive outlook on life in Switzerland.
“I love Switzerland’s nature and the outdoor activities, safety, public transportation, cleanliness, low political drama, ease of travel within Europe, and that there’s no need for a car.”
On the other hand, “the cost of living is high, especially dining/drinking out and healthcare,” she said.
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And there is more…
Despite the country’s relatively low overall ranking, nearly a third (28 percent) of survey participants “want to stay in Switzerland forever,” and 13 percent don’t plan to move for a long time.
Most (40 percent) are not yet sure about their future plans.
You can read more about the survey’s results here.
READ ALSO: Do locals and foreign residents in Zurich get along with each other?
