Meet the foreigners who make up a quarter of the Swiss population

For generations, Switzerland has been a home-from-home for a significant number of foreigners who live and work in the Alpine state. Non-Swiss residents currently make up 27% of Switzerland’s 8.9 million population. Most come from neighbouring countries, such as Italy and Germany. There is also a significant Portuguese population and others from further abroad. + Read about a breakdown of Switzerland's population SWI swissinfo.ch takes a look at the composition of this foreign population and what brings them to Switzerland. The basic facts At the end of 2023, some 2.3 million foreign nationals were living in Switzerland – about a fifth of whom was born in the country. Net immigration increased 11.7% last year, compared to 2022, with new arrivals outstripping departures by 98,851 people. The proportion of foreigners living in Switzerland is a lot higher than a century ago, when this group made up 10% of the whole population. This figure dropped dramatically during the Second World ...