Demographics

Demographic trends in Switzerland and their consequences.

Migrants in Switzerland speak of gratitude, pride – and setbacks

This content was published on Aug 1, 2025 High quality of life, good job prospects, but integration issues: foreigners share their experiences of moving to Switzerland.

Suicides in Switzerland quadruple among older people

This content was published on Jul 10, 2025 The suicide rate among older people in Switzerland is reaching record levels – for a very specific reason.

Cooks at work in the kitchen, pictured during a look behind the scenes at Hotel Seedamm Plaza in Pfaeffikon, canton of Schwyz, Switzerland, on March 31, 2014. (KEYSTONE/Christian Beutler)

In Switzerland four out of ten people have a migrant background – who are they?

This content was published on Jul 7, 2025 Migration is increasingly shaping Swiss society. Almost 2.5 million people do not have Swiss nationality, and even more have foreign origins. Where do they come from, and what are their profiles?

Can Saudi Arabia’s billions unlock the secrets to a longer, healthier life?

This content was published on Jul 3, 2025 Longevity has been an underfunded area of biotech research but that is changing thanks to an unlikely source: Saudi Arabia.

Consular protection: more and more elderly Swiss are dying abroad

This content was published on Jun 27, 2025 The number of Swiss nationals travelling and living abroad is increasing resulting in more and more consular protection cases.

Property in Switzerland is expensive - and the debt burden is also high.

Mortgages in Switzerland: how the system works

This content was published on Jun 21, 2025 Home loans are cheap in Switzerland. There are good sides and bad sides to this. Here is what you need to know about mortgages in Switzerland.

Is Switzerland repeating England’s housing mistakes?

This content was published on Jun 16, 2025 Switzerland is about to repeat England’s mistakes in residential construction, says property economist Christian Hilber.

Flat-hunting in Switzerland’s cheapest and most expensive municipalities

This content was published on Jun 8, 2025 The town of Le Locle in the Jura and the municipality of Kilchberg on Lake Zurich are 2.5 hours’ drive apart – and thousands of francs per square metre.

Echoes from the Indian Ocean: Swiss stories of the 2004 tsunami

This content was published on Jun 6, 2025 This Swiss docufiction tells the stories of people whose lives were devastated by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

How retiring baby boomers could crash Swiss property market

This content was published on Jun 2, 2025 If baby boomers sell their homes, the property market could collapse. Can younger generations hope for plummeting prices?

Novartis bets on ageing as next frontier in drug development

This content was published on May 23, 2025 Swiss pharma giant Novartis is diving into research on ageing to tap the growing market for drugs that help keep older adults healthy.

‘Without immigration, more than a third of the Swiss population would disappear per generation’

This content was published on May 12, 2025 Switzerland is a country of emigration but also immigration. This is typical of an open, globalised country, says political analyst Michael Hermann.

Two people in silhouette look at mobile phones while a contrail of an aircraft is seen in the sky in the evening twilight, at Zurich Kloten Airport, pictured in Ruemlang, Switzerland, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. (KEYSTONE/Michael Buholzer)

No house generation: the impossibility of buying property in Switzerland

This content was published on May 12, 2025 In many countries, buying a home is slipping further out of reach for young people. Switzerland is no exception.

Swiss true crimes: the child serial killer Werner Ferrari (part 2/2)

This content was published on May 9, 2025 This two-part documentary film looks back at the police investigation into the shocking story of Switzerland’s infamous child serial killer.

Passports for sale? Golden visa schemes are residency for the rich.

Swiss Golden Visa scheme faces opposition

This content was published on May 7, 2025 Switzerland wants to snap up as many wealthy globetrotters as possible, but not everyone agrees with the methods being used.

The Basel researcher whose work triggered a longevity revolution

This content was published on May 7, 2025 Basel-based scientist Michael Hall’s discovery of the gene Target of Rapamycin has fuelled one of the fastest growing trends – longevity.

A woman holding an hourglass, with a DNA string illustration and nature scenery in the background

How Switzerland became a longevity hot spot

This content was published on May 2, 2025 People have come to Switzerland for centuries in search of the fountain of youth. How did the country become a magnet for longevity seekers?

Swiss true crimes: the child serial killer Werner Ferrari (part 1/2)

This content was published on May 2, 2025 This two-part documentary film looks back at the police investigation into the shocking story of Switzerland’s infamous child serial killer.

Longevity clinics: modern-day snake oil or the key to healthy ageing?

This content was published on May 2, 2025 Scientists have yet to find the elixir of life but this hasn’t stopped longevity clinics from selling treatments, pills and gadgets that claim to slow ageing.

In Switzerland, migration isn’t just inbound

This content was published on May 1, 2025 Who are the 90,000 or so foreigners who leave Switzerland each year, and why do they do so?

Switzerland’s housing shortage: how bad is it?

This content was published on Apr 29, 2025 With high immigration and not enough new houses and flats being built, Switzerland’s housing shortage is getting worse. Just how severe is the problem?

What are your experiences with housing shortages and rising property prices?

Switzerland is steering towards a housing crisis. Are there solutions?

Join the discussion

Apr 25, 2025

54 Likes

63 Comments

View the discussion

Living longer: What do you think about the longevity trend?

The longevity market is booming thanks in part to advances in the science of ageing. What do you think of the idea of significantly extending human lifespan?

Join the discussion

Apr 25, 2025

34 Likes

22 Comments

View the discussion

On April 5, thousands demonstrated in Zurich against the housing crisis. It was the city's largest housing demonstration since the turn of the millennium

Zurich: Welcome to the world capital of housing shortages!

This content was published on Apr 21, 2025 In Zurich, only seven out of 10,000 apartments are vacant on average – the lowest rate in Switzerland and probably in the Western world.

Ukrainian in Switzerland: ‘I loved Russia…but they threw me out’

This content was published on Apr 17, 2025 Long-time Russian resident Natalia told officers she was for “peace in the world”. The response: a 20-year-ban on entering the country.

New true crime films: Switzerland’s darkest mysteries

This content was published on Apr 17, 2025 Despite being one of the safest countries in the world, Switzerland has had its share of big crime stories.

Swiss true crimes: the Wohlen double parricide

This content was published on Apr 17, 2025 A documentary film about the dramatic double murder case involving the married couple Peter and Ursula Breitschmid, instigated by their adopted son.

Swiss true crimes: the car park murderer who shocked Switzerland

This content was published on Apr 4, 2025 A documentary film about Caroline H, a serial pyromaniac who violently murdered two women, and almost killed a third, in Switzerland in the 1990s.

Echoes of an outbreak – What did Europe learn from the Covid pandemic?

This content was published on Apr 3, 2025 Five years since the WHO declared Covid-19 a global pandemic, Europe is still taking stock of what’s changed and what hasn’t.

Readers share their thoughts on how to die with dignity.

What does a ‘dignified death’ mean to you?

This content was published on Apr 3, 2025 More European countries are legalising assisted dying because of the growing recognition of the right to die.

Did you immigrate to Switzerland? What are your experiences?

What were the circumstances of your immigration to Switzerland? And what motivated your decision to stay or leave?

Join the discussion

Apr 1, 2025

30 Likes

64 Comments

View the discussion

Opponents of Covid-19 measures on the Rütli meadown on Lake Lucerne, Switzerland, in July 2021.

Study reveals antipathy towards marginalised groups in Switzerland

This content was published on Mar 26, 2025 Minority groups like Covid-19 skeptics and climate campaigners are particularly unappreciated.

‘It’s political’: why some people refuse to have a smartphone

This content was published on Mar 23, 2025 Almost two decades after the first iPhone, not everyone is ready to go fully digital. We talk to three people sceptical of the always-online life.

Photo of a woman in front of a desk with lego in front of her

Why it’s so hard to be a working woman in Switzerland

This content was published on Mar 20, 2025 Despite Switzerland’s high wages, working conditions for women remain among the worst in the OECD.

Supporters of left-wing Vetevendosje! party celebrate following results of a parliamentary election, in Pristina,

When Kosovo votes, so do 27,000 Kosovars in Switzerland

This content was published on Feb 19, 2025 A large number voted for the incumbent prime minister, Albin Kurti – who is well aware of the importance of his supporters in the diaspora.

Abortion in Europe: a right for some, a fight for millions of others

This content was published on Jan 21, 2025 As US President Donald Trump takes office following a campaign where access to abortion was a central theme, Europe also finds itself at a crossroads between liberal policies and restrictive laws.

How countries are managing immigration between economic needs and social tensions

This content was published on Jan 21, 2025 In many developed countries population growth is now essentially fuelled by immigration. Here are some facts, figures and insights from demographers.

Climate adaptation

Why Switzerland is among the ten fastest-warming countries in the world

Foreign Affairs

In Switzerland four out of ten people have a migrant background – who are they?

Demographics

Suicides in Switzerland quadruple among older people

Criminals are targeting Swiss car dealerships

French gangs target luxury cars in Switzerland

The additional costs that Switzerland will incur when purchasing the US F-35 fighter jet continue to be a concern.

Swiss Politics

Renewed controversy in Switzerland over US fighter jets – explained

Has your continent reached its peak or is there still potential for economic growth?

Some regions of the world are on an upward trajectory with the promise of a steadily improving future. Where do you live? And in which direction is your region or continent developing?

Join the discussion

Jul 21, 2025

6 Likes

9 Comments

View the discussion

Are you a Swiss citizen living in New Zealand, Israel, Singapore, or Brunei? Ask your ambassador a question here!

What have you always wanted to ask your ambassador? As a Swiss Abroad, what issues are most important to you on a daily basis?

Join the discussion

Jul 31, 2025

3 Comments

View the discussion

Living longer: What do you think about the longevity trend?

The longevity market is booming thanks in part to advances in the science of ageing. What do you think of the idea of significantly extending human lifespan?

Join the discussion

Apr 25, 2025

34 Likes

22 Comments

View the discussion

Demographics

More

Migrants in Switzerland speak of gratitude, pride – and setbacks

More

Suicides in Switzerland quadruple among older people

More

In Switzerland four out of ten people have a migrant background – who are they?

More

Can Saudi Arabia’s billions unlock the secrets to a longer, healthier life?

More

Consular protection: more and more elderly Swiss are dying abroad

More

Mortgages in Switzerland: how the system works

More

Is Switzerland repeating England’s housing mistakes?

More

Flat-hunting in Switzerland’s cheapest and most expensive municipalities

More

Echoes from the Indian Ocean: Swiss stories of the 2004 tsunami

More

How retiring baby boomers could crash Swiss property market

More

Novartis bets on ageing as next frontier in drug development

More

‘Without immigration, more than a third of the Swiss population would disappear per generation’

More

No house generation: the impossibility of buying property in Switzerland

More

Swiss true crimes: the child serial killer Werner Ferrari (part 2/2)

More

Swiss Golden Visa scheme faces opposition

More

The Basel researcher whose work triggered a longevity revolution

More

How Switzerland became a longevity hot spot

More

Swiss true crimes: the child serial killer Werner Ferrari (part 1/2)

More

Longevity clinics: modern-day snake oil or the key to healthy ageing?

More

In Switzerland, migration isn’t just inbound

More

Switzerland’s housing shortage: how bad is it?

More

What are your experiences with housing shortages and rising property prices?

More

Living longer: What do you think about the longevity trend?

More

Zurich: Welcome to the world capital of housing shortages!

More

Ukrainian in Switzerland: ‘I loved Russia…but they threw me out’

More

New true crime films: Switzerland’s darkest mysteries

More

Swiss true crimes: the Wohlen double parricide

More

Swiss true crimes: the car park murderer who shocked Switzerland

More

Echoes of an outbreak – What did Europe learn from the Covid pandemic?

More

What does a ‘dignified death’ mean to you?

More

Did you immigrate to Switzerland? What are your experiences?

More

Study reveals antipathy towards marginalised groups in Switzerland

More

‘It’s political’: why some people refuse to have a smartphone

More

Why it’s so hard to be a working woman in Switzerland

More

When Kosovo votes, so do 27,000 Kosovars in Switzerland

More

Abortion in Europe: a right for some, a fight for millions of others

More

How countries are managing immigration between economic needs and social tensions

Popular Stories

More

Why Switzerland is among the ten fastest-warming countries in the world

More

In Switzerland four out of ten people have a migrant background – who are they?