Swiss population grows, 25% are foreigners

8 years ago - Published in Finance, Fundamental Analysis

Switzerland’s population rose by 90’600 in 2016: at the end of the year, 8,417,700 people were living in Switzerland, up 90,600 from two years ago, the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO) reported Thursday. If this growth rate of 1.1% were extrapolated forward on a compounding basis, Switzerland’s population would double in 64 years.

The increase in 2016 was due to net birth-death related growth of 21,100, and net immigration, which added 75,5002. In 2016 there were 85,700 births and 64,600 deaths. Statistics show that a quarter of Switzerland's permanent population is foreign. Representing some 2,100,100 people, the number of foreigners living on Swiss soil increased 2.5 percent from 2015. A total of 86,700 foreigners left Switzerland across the year, resulting in a net inflow of 81,600 foreigners.

Zurich, Geneva and Vaud (including Lausanne) have the highest numbers of foreigners, attracted by jobs, high salaries and a standard of living that’s regularly considered among the best in the world, if expensive. 
 
Zurich has the most, with 395,136 foreigners calling the canton (including the city) home, the canton of Vaud is second with 263,775 foreigners while Geneva third. The figures do not include the substantial number of cross-border workers, with whom Ticino’s relationship has been fractious in recent years.

Looking at the figures as a percentage of the population, Geneva tops the list, with its 196,738 foreigners with a huge 40% of its total resident population, then Basel-City follow with 35% , 33% in Vaud, 28% in Ticino, while Zurich comes in at 26%.
 
Percentage-wise, the figure is also above the national average in the canton of Zug – known for having among the lowest tax rates in Switzerland – where 27 percent of the population is foreign.

Switzerland's large base of foreigners, who are on average younger than their Swiss counterparts, is particularly important given the country's ageing population. FSO revealed that 18.1 percent of Switzerland's residents are 64-year-old or above, while almost as many as 20.1 percent aged below 20.