The majority of foreign nationals who come to live and work in Switzerland end up leaving the country, a new study reveals. Among them, North American citizens have the highest return rates.
Just over 150,000 foreigners arrived in Switzerland in 2015; of those, around 60 percent left the country within the following ten years.
This is the finding of recent a study published by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO).
Whilst there was no breakdown for nationalities the figures did have stats based on which region of the globe they came from.
They revealed that people from North America have had the highest re-emigration rate: more than 80 percent of those who arrived in Switzerland in 2015 had left the country by the end of 2024.
In contrast, nationals of other regions of the worlds have a lower re-emigration rate of just over 50 percent: For South Americans 56.4 percent; Nationals from Asia and Oceania, 53.2 percent; Africa, 60.4 percent; and non EU/EFTA European nations – 53 percent.
For EU and EFTA (Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein), the emigration rate is 60 percent
(Also, approximately 40 percent of all people – both Swiss and foreign – who emigrate, return to Switzerland within the following decade).
Why do these people end up leaving?
Change in the employment status is one of the reasons for early departures, as a previous study showed.
It is especially the case for people from third nations whose employment in Switzerland is quota-based and tied to a particular job.
According to sociologist Liliana Azevedo from the Swiss Research Center for Migration at the University of Neuchâtel, “people who immigrate to Switzerland don’t necessarily settle down.”
“Work is what binds people to Switzerland. Unemployment, or insecure or unskilled jobs, are all obstacles to remaining in the country for more than a few years,” she added.
READ ALSO: Why so many foreign residents end up leaving Switzerland
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And why do so many North Americans leave Switzerland?
The FSO does not provide reasons for this phenomenon in the study.
At least some of the answers, however, come from anecdotal and observational evidence.
What we do know that the most likely explanation of why such a high number of North Americans leave Switzerland after working here is that the United States and Canada are third countries. As such – and contrary to nationals of the EU and EFTA states (Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein) – they only have a limited access to Switzerland’s labour market and residence, and only under strict conditions, such as the quota system.
This means that unless they have a C permit or a dual citizenship, many US and Canadian nationals are in Switzerland for short-term contracts and leave when they are completed – and their L or B permits expire.
READ ALSO: What do third-country nationals need to do to move to Switzerland?
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‘We wanted to stay’
Take US national Phillip, for example.
He, his wife, and a young son moved to Basel from the United States in 2022 for a job in one of the pharmaceutical companies.
His permit, however, was tied to a temporary position, and once his contract was finished, the family had to return to the US.
“We wanted to stay and make our lives in Basel, but that was not possible,” Philip told The Local in a recent article.
A similar scenario played out for Richard, a guest professor at one of Switzerland’s universities.
When his ‘guest stint’ was over, he tried to get a teaching position at another Swiss university, but to no avail.
“My permit was tied to that one job and could not be transferred to another,” he said. “So my family and I had no choice but to pack up and leave”.
READ ALSO: ‘We wanted to stay’: The reasons foreigners have to leave Switzerland
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How many Americans and Canadians live in Switzerland?
Some 6,170 Canadian citizens reside in Switzerland, and almost 32,000 US citizens.
According to FSO, the 32,000-number includes 15,981 US-only nationals (with C or renewable B permits), and 15,759 are dual Swiss-US citizens.
In terms of residence, Canadians have a presence in Zurich, Geneva, and Bern, as well as Basel, Lausanne, Lucerne, Zug, and St. Gallen.
US-only citizens are mostly living in cantons of Zurich, Geneva and Vaud, which are Switzerland’s most international regions.
Specifically, 4,158 of them have settled in Zurich, followed by Geneva (3,201), Vaud (2,447) and Basel-City (1,165).
READ ALSO: What we know about US citizens living in Switzerland
