While international migration has increased since 2020, relocations within Switzerland have fallen sharply. According to the FSO, around 695,000 people moved within Switzerland in 2023. This compares to 769,000 in 2020.
Almost three-quarters of people who moved in 2023 stayed in the same canton. Some 37% moved within the same municipality and 35% moved to another municipality in the same canton. In addition, 16% moved to another canton and 12% moved abroad, according to the FSO.
The highest rate of population relocation was in cantons Basel City (11.9%) and Neuchâtel (10.7%). In contrast, it was lowest in cantons Appenzell Inner Rhodes (6.9%) and Uri (7.3%).
Of the 20 largest Swiss cities, St Gallen (14.1%) and Bern (13.1%) recorded the highest relocation rates, while Vernier in Geneva (8.4%) and Bellinzona (8.7%) had the lowest. With a rate of 10% the population of urban municipalities was more inclined to move than that of rural municipalities (7.8%).
On average, the moving distance for a change of residence within Switzerland was 13.5 kilometres. According to the FSO, in 40% of cases the move took place within a radius of less than two kilometres.
Translated from German by DeepL/ts
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
Popular Stories
More
Climate adaptation
Why Switzerland is among the ten fastest-warming countries in the world
Train vs plane: would you take a direct train between London and Geneva?
Eurostar is planning to run direct trains from Britain to Germany and Switzerland from the early 2030s. Would you favour the train over the plane? If not, why not?
Rhine could warm by up to 4°C by 2100, scientists warn
This content was published on
The water temperature of the Rhine River could rise by up to 4.2° degrees Celsius by the end of the century due to the warming planet, scientists warn.
This content was published on
The Federal Council wants to explore the possibilities of joining the European Union’s €800-billion rearmament programme without compromising Swiss neutrality.
Defence Minister Pfister stresses importance of Swiss mission in Balkans
This content was published on
During a visit to the Balkans region last week, Swiss Defence Minister Martin Pfister met Swisscoy peacekeeping troops in Kosovo.
Premiere for Swiss Air Force on French National Day
This content was published on
On July 14, the Swiss Air Force will take part in the traditional air parade in Paris to mark the French bank holidays with an F/A-18 fighter jet. This is a first for Switzerland.
Swiss launch competition for memorial to Nazi victims
This content was published on
The victims of Nazi Germany are to be commemorated on the Casinoterrasse in Bern. A competition will be held to determine what the site will look like.
This content was published on
The cantonal police of Graubünden in eastern Switzerland have arrested and convicted five cocaine dealers in Chur within a week.
This content was published on
The Swiss business umbrella organisation Economiesuisse and the employers' association broadly support the package of agreements negotiated with the European Union.
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.