More than a fifth of Switzerland’s almost eight million inhabitants are foreign, including 280,000 Germans and 75,000 Americans. Do sizeable foreign presences strengthen or weaken countries? Can the Swiss learn from their foreign neighbours and vice versa? What’s the situation like where you live?
This content was published on
1 minute
85.2 per cent of Switzerland’s permanent foreign resident population are of European origin, more than two thirds of whom are nationals of an EU or Efta member state.
The largest group of foreigners are Italian (16.3%), followed by nationals of Germany (14.9%), Portugal (12%) and Serbia (6.9%).
An increasing number of foreigners come from further abroad. The proportion of non-European nationals has doubled since 1980 to reach 14.8 per cent today.
More
More
Germans in Switzerland: so near, and yet so far
This content was published on
German residents have more than doubled their numbers in Switzerland in the past ten years, becoming the second largest group of foreigners in the country. Some Swiss are concerned about the influx. Highly qualified Germans are now able to compete directly with Swiss citizens for top jobs. Flare ups of “German bashing”, notably from the…
This content was published on
Education and know-how are natural resources which have helped make Switzerland one of the foremost research centres in the world. Yet, the science community depends on foreigners to make up for the shortage of young academics with Swiss passports. Germany is the main reservoir for the necessary manpower, as official data confirms. The number of…
This content was published on
It’s not the first time language has been raised in the same breath as integration in Switzerland, but it’s rare for the comment to be directed so succinctly at the army of foreign professionals working in the country. Justice Minister Simonetta Sommaruga recently told public radio that people had complained to her about foreign CEOs…
This content was published on
Coexistence is not always easy. But integration measures introduced by the local authorities and the migrants themselves show that a harmonious balance is possible. Every year hundreds of thousands of tourists from around the world travel to Zermatt to see the iconic snow-capped pyramid, the Matterhorn mountain. A curious visitor generally does not take long…
This content was published on
The Geneva police says expats’ perception of the worsening crime situation “matches the reality on the ground”. But recent police operations in the centre of town seem to be making a difference and preventive and reorganisation measures should help. According to the survey carried out at the end of 2009 by canton Geneva and Geneva…
This content was published on
Burri became a full member of Magnum in 1959, when he started work on his book, The Germans, published in Switzerland in 1962. The book was similar to Robert Frank’s The Americans. And like The Americans, Burri’s photo essay on life in Germany was considered ahead of its time.
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.