Switzerland continues to be a multifaceted land due to immigration
Keystone
The number of non-Swiss living in Switzerland rose slightly in 2012 to 1.825 million, a three per cent increase over 2011, the Federal Migration Office reported on Friday. Foreigners continue to make up roughly 20 per cent of the population.
This content was published on
1 minute
swissinfo.ch and agencies
The increase was primarily attributed to migration by citizens of the 27 European Union countries, with a 4.1 per cent increase over 2011, to a total of 1.2 million.
There were 630,000 people from non-EU countries living in Switzerland at the end of 2012, 0.9 per cent more than at the end of 2011.
In 2012, 144,000 foreigners moved into Switzerland, and 66,000 left the country. There were 20,000 foreigner births and 6000 deaths.
The biggest group of foreigners in Switzerland are Italians (294,000), followed by Germans (285,000), Portuguese (238,000), French (104,000) and Serbians (95,000).
The number of foreigners who were granted Swiss citizenship in 2012 was markedly lower than the number in 2011. In 2012, 34,000 foreigners became Swiss citizens, a decrease of 7.2 per cent.
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.
Read more
More
Minister calls for open dialogue on immigration
This content was published on
Sommaruga said it is a mistake to ignore difficulties. Open and fair information about pros and cons is needed. “It is understandable but not right to single out positive aspects in a bid to convince voters. People like being told the truth,” she said in an interview printed on Thursday in the Tages-Anzeiger and Der…
This content was published on
Fibbi is a professor at Lausanne University and a coordinator of the Swiss Forum for the Study of Migration at Neuchâtel University. Born in Italy, but resident in Switzerland for more than 30 years, she is well-placed to understand the complexities of immigration. In 2010, she oversaw a study entitled “The Portuguese in Switzerland”, commissioned…
This content was published on
At the end of 2011, about a quarter of Switzerland’s 30,849 doctors had a foreign degree; more than four out of five from the EU, according to the Swiss Medical Association (FMH). Three quarters of all doctors who joined hospitals between 2002 and 2008 were foreign nationals, according to health monitoring body Obsan. There is…
This content was published on
The Environment and Population Association (Ecopop) on Friday handed in more than 120,000 signatures to the federal authorities. No date for the vote has been set yet. The initiative committee wants to limit annual immigration to Switzerland to 0.2 per cent of the resident population. It also seeks to set aside ten per cent of…
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.