A recent analysis offers an interesting perspective on immigration – and particularly on how naturalisation changes Switzerland’s population landscape.
Each year, approximately 40,000 foreign residents become Swiss citizens.
But beyond a mere number, this figure represents a key shift in the population balance, according to a report by the Avenir-Suisse think tank.
“As more immigrants become citizens, the statistical boundary between ‘foreign nationals’ and ‘Swiss’ is increasingly blurred,” the report points out.
In other words, without tens of thousands of people changing their legal status each year from foreigners to citizens, “the number of Swiss citizens would have declined since the early 1990s, and the share of foreign residents would stand at about 39 instead of the current 27 percent.”
READ MORE: Where are Switzerland’s newly naturalised citizens from?
What else has the analysis revealed?
Even though 40,000 people sounds like a huge number for such a small country, it is not.
“Only a small share of eligible residents actually apply for citizenship,” the think tank said.
Even so, the number of naturalisations has risen sharply over the past decades.
Since the year 2000, “about 962,400 people have acquired Swiss citizenship – several times higher than in the 20th century.”
Avenir-Suisse goes on to say that “because the foreign population has grown at the same time, the naturalisation rate has increased less dramatically: today, about 2 to 3 percent of foreign residents are naturalised each year.”
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Why has the think tank written this report?
“At a time when immigration and citizenship are again the subject of political debate, it is worth taking a closer look at the facts: Who becomes Swiss – and how often?,” Avenir.Suisse explained.
What political debate is currently underway in Switzerland?
In regards to the first point – immigration – Swiss will vote on June 14th on a highly controversial issue spearheaded by the Swiss People’s Party (SVP), which seeks to drastically cut the number of immigrants allowed to settle in Switzerland once the country’s population reaches 10 million.
READ ALSO: What exactly does the Swiss ‘no to 10 million’ anti-immigration proposal aim to do?
Avenir-Suisse’s migration expert, Patrick Leisbach (who also co-authored this report), said in an interview with The Local in 2025 that the approval of the initiative “would likely weaken Switzerland’s long-term growth, innovation, and prosperity.”
“A flexible and market-oriented migration system has served the country well. In contrast, rigid population limits and bureaucratic control would stifle economic dynamism and gradually erode one of Switzerland’s key competitive advantages,” he added.
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How is the issue of citizenship fuelling political debates?
In 2024, left-wing groups had instigated an initiative to cut the length of residency time before foreigners can apply for Swiss citizenship.
Concretely, they want to shorten it from 10 to five years.
The Federal Council is against such a move because it “constitutes an attack on the powers of the cantons and on the federalist nature of the naturalisation procedure.”
Swiss voters will ultimately decide on this issue, though the date for the referendum has not yet been set.
