A new study sheds light on the migration status of Switzerland’s population.
In its new ‘Population by migration status’ study, the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) reports that in 2024, 41 percent of Switzerland’s permanent population aged 15 and over had a migration background – that is, people who have immigrated or whose parents and/or grandparents have immigrated from another country.
That is 3 percent more than in 2020, when the proportion was 38 percent.
In total, this number represents 3,086,000 people.
Among the population with a migration background, nearly 80 percent were born abroad and belong to the first generation (2,456,000 people).
The remaining 20 percent were born in Switzerland and therefore belong to the second generation (630,000 people).
After Swiss nationality (37 percent), the most represented nationalities in the population with a migration background are Italian and German (both 9 percent).
What else does the study reveal?
The majority of people (over 40 percent) immigrated to Switzerland for family reasons, followed by work (38 percent).
Of the latter group, most (72.5 percent) settled in the German-speaking regions, nearly 61 percent in the French-speaking cantons, and 62.4 percent in Italian.
What else do we know about Switzerland’s foreign population?
A previous study, also carried out by FSO, showed that foreigners now make up over 27 percent of Switzerland’s total population.
The vast majority have settled in or near Geneva, Lausanne, Zurich, Basel, and Lugano, with some concentrations of foreigners also found in Valais, Zug, Lucerne, and Neuchâtel.
The canton of Zurich is home to the largest number of international residents: 459,706.
Next are Vaud (284,460), Geneva (218,684), Aargau (198,599), and Bern (190, 384).
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What about English speakers?
Since they are third nations, there are relatively few people from the UK, United States, Canada, Australia, India, and other non EU/EFTA (Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein), living permanently in Switzerland.
Of those, Brits form the largest group, as many have settled in the country before Brexit, while the UK was still part of the European Union and British citizens had an easy access to Switzerland.
Right now, just over 40,000 people from the UK reside permanently in Switzerland — twice as many as American citizens.
