Switzerland’s population grows by 0.8% due to immigration

The share of the population over 80 years old increased at a faster rate than the population as a whole. Keystone / Dominic Steinmann

Switzerland's permanent resident population reached 8,738,800 at the end of 2021, which is 0.8% more than in 2020.

This is within the average rate of annual population growth over the last five years, according to figures released by the Federal Statistical Office on Thursday. In 1960, the population was 5.36 million.

The main reason for population growth was immigration. There was a 1.5% increase in people moving to the country from abroad compared to 2020. Of the immigrants, 13.4% were Swiss nationals. Some 68% were from Europe.

The rate of people moving abroad was even greater with a 6.8% increase in emigration. Around 80% were foreign nationals. Some 28,700 Swiss nationals moved abroad in 2021.

Foreign nationals represent 25.7% of the permanent resident population in Switzerland. Their numbers grew at a slightly faster rate than the Swiss population. The number of Swiss nationals increased by 0.5% (35,100 people) while the number of permanent foreign residents rose by 1.5% (33,400 people).

Getting older

Another reason for the population growth is that people are living longer. Over the last year, the number of people aged 65 and over increased faster than total population growth. There were 31,600 people over 65 representing a 1.9% increase. (+1.9%). Their share of the total population increased by 0.2 percentage points.

Among people 80 years and older, the increase was 3.0%. The increase was even greater for centenarians, who saw an increase of 9.4% from 2020 to 2021.

Women and Swiss nationals are more strongly represented in the ageing population than men. The country had 162 more centenarians than in the previous year. Among the centenarians, there are four times as many women as men.