The Swiss voice in the world since 1935
Top stories
Stay in touch with Switzerland

Expatriate Swiss community grows and ages

The Swiss Abroad community continued to grow in numbers, notably in Europe and Asia last year, according to official statistics.

In total, there were 770,900 registered expatriate Swiss – up 1.4% on 2018.

Most Swiss Abroad citizens lived in Europe, notably in neighbouring France, Germany and Italy, but expats in Britain saw the biggest increase (+3.4%) in 2019.

Infographic expatriate Swiss 2019
Kai Reusser / swissinfo.ch

The largest Swiss AbroadExternal link community outside Europe is in the United States (about 81,100), Canada (40,300), Australia (25,500) and in Israel (20,900).

However, the number of expatriates living in an African country dropped slightly (-0.5%) in 2019 compared with the previous year, the Federal Statistics Office said on Tuesday.

Just over 21% of the expatriate Swiss living around the globe were under 18 years old, and nearly 22% were above 65.

A noticeable increase among the older age group (+3.3%) is due to a higher rate of emigrants and the general ageing process of the population.

The latest data shows that the Swiss Abroad community accounts for more than 10% of Swiss passport holders, the statistics office said.

More
More

Most Read
Swiss Abroad

Most Discussed

News

30-year-old charged with drone flight at Women's European Championships

More

Man charged with flying drone at women’s Euro 2025

This content was published on A man flew a drone around the venue on Wednesday evening during the first match of the Women's EURO 2025 in St. Gallen. The 30-year-old violated the absolute ban on flying during match days. He was reported to the police.

Read more: Man charged with flying drone at women’s Euro 2025
257 Swiss companies are members of the SBTi

More

More than 250 Swiss companies sign CO2 reduction initiative

This content was published on A total of 257 companies from Switzerland have signed up to the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi). In doing so, they are committing to CO2 reduction targets that are compatible with the Paris Climate Agreement.

Read more: More than 250 Swiss companies sign CO2 reduction initiative
Chaka Khan 'and friends': an evening that would have pleased Quincy Jones

More

Montreux Jazz Festival honours Quincy Jones

This content was published on American artist Chaka Khan ‘and friends’ opened the 59th Montreux Jazz Festival on Friday. For over three hours, their show, dedicated to their friend and mentor Quincy Jones, thrilled the audience,

Read more: Montreux Jazz Festival honours Quincy Jones

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR