Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

More cross-border workers commute to Switzerland

Rush hour traffic is part of the daily routine for cross-border workers Keystone

The number of people crossing the border to work in Switzerland every day grew in 2014 by 3.1%, but it was the lowest level of annual growth in the last five years. An extra 8600 people joined the ranks of cross-border workers in 2014.

Overall numbers now add up to 287,100 workers who come into Switzerland on a daily basis for work. Just under two-thirds of these are men. Residents of France made up over half of all cross-border workers, followed by Italy and then Germany.

The latest figures from the Federal Statistical Office also show that the Lake Geneva region is the most popular part of the country for people who live abroad to commute for work in Switzerland.

Some 34.8% of cross-border workers earn a living in the Lake Geneva region, 23.4% in North West Switzerland and 21.5% in canton Ticino.

Although the Lake Geneva region had a higher number of cross-border workers in absolute numbers (99,900), adding up to 10.7% of the workforce in the area, in Ticino 26.2% of its labour force consists of foreigners who commute.

The majority of the cross-border workforce, nearly 62%, are part of the services sector.

In 2009 the number of people crossing the border for work was 221,600 – that number rose over the five years leading up to the end of 2014 by 29.6%.

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