The number of requests for asylum in Switzerland has fallen sharply after authorities in other European countries closed the Balkan land route used by thousands to flee conflicts, Swiss authorities said Thursday.
Requests for asylum in Switzerland fell by one-third in September compared to the corresponding period last year, the State Secretariat for Migration said.
Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson has admitted Sweden has “major problems” as a result of the population growth brought on by mass immigration.
Earlier this week, the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SKL) admitted, by 2020, municipalities face a funding deficit of 40 billion Swedish Krona (£3.5 billion) to finance services like hospitals and nursing homes.
“Demographic trends show that, with more children and more elderly people, the need for local government services is expected to grow significantly faster than the tax base,” says Annika Wallenskog, chief economist at SKL.
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. 86,700 foreigners left Switzerland across the year, resulting in a net inflow of 81,600 foreigners.
Credit Suisse corrects upwards its growth forecasts for the Swiss economy this year: according to the institute’s economists, the gross domestic product will increase by 1.5% this year, versus + 1.0% expected previously. The 2017 estimate remains unchanged, fixed at 1.5%. And the bank warned: stronger expansion is closely related to the immigrants, who are required to increase the workforce.
The Swiss economy will not get back into full swing in 2017 either, due to a lack of momentum among key growth drivers – in particular immigration. These are the conclusions of the Credit Suisse economists in the latest issue of "Monitor Switzerland".
