Immigration might be the hottest topic in Switzerland these days but new figures reveal there has been a drop in the overall number of people moving to the country.
While the number of foreign nationals in Switzerland increased by nearly 75,000 people in 2025, this figure was 10 percent lower than during the previous year.
This is what emerges from statistics released by the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) on January 26th.
They show that decline in net immigration is primarily due to an increase in emigration: nearly 83,000 foreign nationals left Switzerland in 2025, an increase of approximately 5 percent compared to 2024.
READ MORE: Why so many foreign residents leave Switzerland
At the same time, some 165,000 foreign nationals became permanent residents – nearly 3 percent fewer than in 2024.
What else does this data show?
Employment was the main reason for immigration among EU/EFTA nationals: nearly 70 percent of them immigrated to Switzerland specifically for this reason.
Another finding: the number of voluntary departures has increased.
In all, 2,548 people who were due to leave Switzerland in 2025 (for instance, because their work permit was not renewed), had left – 81 more than in 2024 (+3.3 percent).
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Additionally, a total of 2,400 people were deported to their country of origin or to a third country, which was 153 more than in 2024 (+6.8 percent).
Overall, by the end of 2025, 2,414,000 foreigners were residing permanently in Switzerland.
However, the SEM pointed out that these are provisional figures. The final statistics on the foreign population will be published at the end of February.
