Swiss Abroad community grows and evolves
Some 788,000 Swiss nationals were registered with Swiss representations abroad in 2021, a number that has grown in recent years, according to the Federal Statistical Office (FSO).
If the Swiss abroad community were a canton, it would be Switzerland’s fourth largest in terms of population, says a foreign ministry press releaseExternal link published on Friday. The percentage of total Swiss citizens living abroad has grown from 9.2% in 2001 to 10.3% in 2011 and 10.8% in 2021.
Of the approximately 788,000 Swiss abroad registered at the end of 2021, about 64% live in Europe. France is home to the largest Swiss abroad community, followed by Germany and Italy.
The 18-64s are the biggest age group (56.4%) among Swiss abroad, followed by the 65 and overs (22.5%) and the under 18s (21.1%). The number of Swiss abroad is increasing in all age groups and, as in the previous year, the trend is most marked among seniors (+2.7%).
Three quarters of the Swiss abroad, or 590,500 people, have at least one additional nationality, according to the FSO. The proportion of Swiss with multiple nationalities is highest in American countries (80%), especially Latin America.
The figures show that the mode of emigration is also changing, with more and more Swiss people spending some time in a foreign country and then returning to Switzerland or moving to another country.
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