Two-thirds of immigrants want to stay in Switzerland

Last year 41% of the permanent resident population aged 15 or over and born abroad said they had migrated to Switzerland for family reasons © Keystone / Michael Buholzer

Almost two-thirds of people who move to Switzerland want to stay, according to an analysis by the Federal Statistical Office on international migration.

This desire is particularly strong among people from European countries that do not belong to the EU, the Demos studyExternal link revealed on Monday. The data on migration has been gathered since 1998.

In 2022, 41% of the permanent resident population aged 15 or over and born abroad said they had migrated to Switzerland for family reasons and 37% said they had come for professional reasons, the statistical office said. The next two most frequently cited reasons were asylum (6%) and studies (4%).

Men more often gave their job as the reason and women their family. For people from EU and EFTA states, their job was also frequently the reason, while for other groups of countries the main reason was family reunification.

In 2021, 63% of immigrants said they wanted to stay in Switzerland permanently, 9% planned to stay for at least five years, and only 2% intended to leave in less than five years. A quarter were undecided.

Retirement and family reasons were the most commonly cited reasons for wanting to leave, followed by professional reasons and homesickness.

Job and family are also reasons for emigration from Switzerland, with retirement also increasingly mentioned.