On the way to Switzerland's 9 million population This is how many people have moved to your canton

The Swiss resident population grew more in 2023 than at any time since 1960. The differences between the cantons are considerable. The interactive map shows where and how many people have moved.

Where is the Swiss resident population growing fastest? No, not in Zurich or Geneva, which are always mentioned when it comes to density stress and housing shortages.

But perhaps this is also one of the reasons why the two cantons with the largest cities are not the ones where the population has increased particularly strongly. After all, in order for people to move in, they need free apartments. And these are particularly scarce in Zurich and Geneva.

Aargau and Schaffhausen are among the frontrunners in terms of immigration - both are neighboring cantons of Zurich and both have seen their populations grow by 2.2 percent. There is obviously still room there, and quite a few people who work in the greater Zurich area find the living space they need in Aargau or Schaffhausen.

Valais has experienced the strongest immigration. The resident population there has grown by 2.4 percent.

Ukrainians account for a large proportion of immigration

A look at the vacancy rates (the proportion of empty residential units in the total supply) shows that these cannot explain why so many more people have moved to Valais than to Jura, whose population has increased by 0.9 percent and thus the least.

The Federal Statistical Office, which published the latest population figures today, emphasizes that immigration is responsible for most of the population growth. The number of Swiss nationals has also increased by 25,600 or 0.4 percent. However, the number of residents without a Swiss passport grew much faster at 121,300.

Among them, one group stands out: the refugees from Ukraine with protection status S. They have been recorded as part of the permanent resident population for the first time and, at 59,500 people, make up almost half of those who are new to the resident population but do not have a Swiss passport. Of the 1.7 percent increase in the Swiss population, Ukrainians with S protection status account for 0.6 percent, i.e. more than a third.

Zurich is ahead in absolute figures

When asked by blue News, the Federal Statistical Office has no explanation as to why the population has increased so much more in certain cantons than in others. The allocation of refugees from Ukraine cannot explain the differences.

It should be noted that Switzerland's metropolitan areas are only less affected by population growth in percentage terms. Zurich (+1.6 percent) has seen the largest increase in absolute figures at 25,541. In the canton of Schaffhausen, one of the frontrunners in terms of growth, there are 1892 more people than in 2022.