Increased migration in 2007 has led to the biggest growth in the Swiss population in 15 years.

The number of long-term residents in Switzerland rose last year by 1.1 per cent, or 82,700, with a total population of 7,591,400 by the end of December, according to provisional figures published on Thursday by the Federal Statistics Office.

The figure includes Swiss and foreign nationals, but excludes 61,000 people with a limited residence permit and 40,700 others seeking asylum.

Between 1992 and 2006 the population growth varied between 0.2 and 0.9 per cent.

Four-fifths of last year's growth was linked to migration and a fifth resulted from normal changes in population figures.

The birth rate went up slightly during 2007 by 1.1 per cent to 74,500 and the number of deaths stayed the same at 60,300.

In addition, 40,100 couples tied the knot in 2007 – 300 more than during 2006 – whereas the divorce rate fell by six per cent to 19,700.

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