In Switzerland, seniors now outnumber young people, new data shows

In 2025, the population increased in all Swiss cantons. Keystone-SDA

For the first time, the permanent resident population aged 65 or over outnumbers people under 20 in Switzerland. According to provisional statistics for 2025 published on Thursday by the Federal Statistical Office, the number of births continues to fall, while the number of deaths remains stable.

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At the end of 2025, 9,124,300 people were permanently resident in Switzerland, representing an increase of 0.8% (+73,300 people) compared with the previous year, the Federal Statistical Office said in a statement. However, this increase was lower than that recorded in 2024.

The population increased in all cantons. The strongest growth was recorded in Schaffhausen (+1.6%), Basel-City (+1.4%) and Valais (+1.3%). Glarus and Ticino were at the bottom of the table (+0.2%), followed by Bern, Jura and Neuchâtel (+0.4%).

The number of older people exceeds that of young people for the first time (1,811,000 people aged 65 or over, compared with 1,802,000 people aged under 20). Each of these two age groups accounts for around 20% of Switzerland’s total population.

Life expectancy is projected to reach 86.3 years for women and 82.7 years for men in 2025.

Births are falling, deaths are stagnating

Births continue to fall, but at a slower rate (-0.5% in 2025 compared to -2.2% in 2024). The provisional average number of children per woman stood at 1.28 in 2025. A decline in births is observed in 18 of the 26 cantons compared with 2024, according to provisional figures. They are rising in the cantons of Appenzell, Nidwalden, Geneva, Basel-City, Vaud, Solothurn and Schaffhausen.

The number of deaths is slightly lower than in 2024 (-0.03%), standing at 71,700.

Around 35,000 marriages took place in Switzerland, 1,000 fewer than in the previous year. Divorces also fell (-400). According to the Statistical Office, if the figures for 2025 remain the same in the future, nearly two in five marriages (38.8%) could one day end in divorce.

Lower immigration and emigration

Immigration by Swiss nationals (people of Swiss nationality arriving in Switzerland) rose by 2.5%. Immigration by foreign nationals, on the other hand, fell (–4.5%). In 2025, the total number of immigrants stood at 204,600. This represents a decline of 3.8% compared with the previous year.

Emigration is also down, by approximately 2%. The Statistical Office provisionally records 127,300 emigrants, of whom 29,400 are Swiss and 97,900 are foreign nationals.

Translated from French with AI/gw

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