With more than 2.2 million foreigners, they accounted for 26% of the population at the end of 2021. The vast majority, i.e. 80% of non-citizens residing in Switzerland, are European citizens. Citizens of Germany, Italy, Portugal and France alone make up nearly half of the foreigners in Switzerland, at 47%.
The concept of “foreigner” here is associated with obtaining citizenship. Compared to other countries, Switzerland has very strict criteria for granting citizenship, which is not acquired automatically. Therefore, many foreigners born in Switzerland retain their citizenship. Thus, in 2021, a fifth of the country’s “foreign” population will be born on the territory of the Union. Among foreign-born foreigners, nearly half (47%) have lived in Switzerland permanently for ten years or more.
Switzerland is still a country of immigration. Another indicator, regardless of nationality, shows this: according to 2022 figures, 30% of the country’s population was born outside of Switzerland. In Europe, only Luxembourg has a higher proportion of the population born outside its territory.
