1 Population

At the end of 2018, Switzerland had a population of 8 544 527, i.e. 60 397 persons (+ 0.7%) more than in 2017. The number of Swiss nationals in the population was 6 396 252 and the number of foreign nationals 2 148 275.

The permanent resident population comprises slightly more women than men (50.4% to 49.6%). While men are greater in number in the younger age groups, the gap between men and women narrows between the ages of 20 and 39 when they are represented in almost identical numbers. From the age of 60, there are more and more women, who have a longer life expectancy.

The population’s age structure has undergone great change since 1900. The share of young people under the age of 20 has declined, whereas that of people over the age of 64 has increased. This phenomenon is a result of the extension of life expectancy and of a decline in fertility. As a consequence, the population is ageing.

In 2018, 2.1 million foreign nationals were living in Switzerland, 19% of whom were born in Switzerland and 81% abroad.

The most common foreign nationalities in Switzerland are Italian, German, Portuguese, French and Kosovar.

In 1910, 14.7% of the population living in Switzerland were foreigners; this rate was not surpassed until 1967. Except for a drop in the years from 1975 to 1979 and a slight decline in 1983, the percentage of foreign nationals has continued to rise, reaching 25% at the end of 2018.

Dual citizenship

18.1% of the Swiss permanent resident population aged 15 or over have dual citizenship (966 023 people). 64.3% of them obtained Swiss nationality by naturalisation, whereas 35.7% have been Swiss nationals from birth.

The most common second nationality among dual nationals is Italian (24.2%), followed by French (11.2%) and German (8.2%).

Broken down by marital status, the permanent resident population was composed as follows in 2018: 44.4% of people were single, never married, 42.1% married, 4.7% widowed, 8.5% divorced, 0.01% whose marriage has been annulled, 0.2% in a registered partnership and 0.03% in a dissolved partnership.

At the end of 2018, 53.2% of single, never married people were men and 46.8% women. In contrast, the distribution of men and women among married people was more or less equal. Women are in the majority (57.7%) among divorced people. People in a registered partnership, on the other hand, are more likely to be male (66.3%) than female (33.7%). The gender gap is considerable among widowed persons: 80.4% of them are women. This difference can be explained by women’s longer life expectancy and also by the fact that men are more likely to remarry.

Population by canton

At the end of 2018, Zurich remained the most populated canton in Switzerland with more than 1.5 million inhabitants. Appenzell Innerrhoden was the least populated (16 145). Almost 60% of the country’s population is concentrated in six cantons: Zurich, Bern, Vaud, Aargau, Saint Gallen and Geneva.

Men and women are not equally distributed across the cantons. Women dominate in half of the cantons, particularly in Basel-Stadt and Geneva: in the other half, men dominate, in particular in Appenzell Innerrhoden and Schwyz.

The cantons of Fribourg and Vaud have the largest percentages of young people; these two cantons show the lowest average age, i.e. just below 41. The proportion of elderly people is greatest in Basel-Landschaft and Ticino. At present, the average age in these cantons is above 44.

The cantons with the highest percentages of foreign nationals are Geneva (40%), Basel-Stadt (36.4%) and Vaud (33.2%). Appenzell Innerrhoden and Uri show the lowest proportion of foreigners (11.3% and 12.3%), followed by Obwalden, Jura and Nidwalden (less than 15% in all three cases).