At the end of June, a total of 2,338,710 foreign nationals were living in the country, the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) said on Thursday.
In total, 80,684 people immigrated as permanent foreign residents between January and June 2024, according to SEM. This was 5.9% fewer than in the same period last year.
Immigration from European Union (EU) and European Free Trade Agreement (EFTA) member states fell by 7.2% to 57,330. Third-country nationals – i.e. not from the EU or EFTA – accounted for 23,354 people, 2.4% fewer than in 2023.
Family reunification accounted for 24.3% of immigrants, SEM said – 9.2% fewer than in the same period last year. Some 17% were family members of a Swiss national.
According to SEM, 35,184 people emigrated during the same period, or 732 more than in the same period in 2023. Some 27,017 EU/EFTA nationals (+667 people) and 8,167 third-country nationals (+65 people) also left Switzerland.
Translated from German by DeepL/dos
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