Population 41 percent of people in Switzerland have a migration background
41 percent of the permanent resident population in Switzerland aged 15 and over had a migration background in 2024. That is around three million people, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office on Thursday.
09.10.2025, 09:29
09.10.2025, 09:30
SDA
Compared to the previous year, the proportion of people with a migration background increased by 1.1%. Around 80 percent of the population with a migration background were born abroad and are therefore first-generation immigrants, according to the Federal Statistical Office (FSO). The remaining fifth were born in Switzerland and belong to the second generation.
37 percent of the population with a migration background have Swiss citizenship. According to the FSO, Italian and German citizenship followed most frequently, with nine percent each.
However, 40 percent of those born abroad aged 15 and over stated that they immigrated to Switzerland for family reasons. 38 percent cited professional reasons. Two thirds of them had already found a job before immigrating. Asylum (7 percent) and education (5 percent) were the next most frequently cited reasons for immigration, according to the FSO.
