Swiss population increase slows after a decade of growth

Nearly 8.5 million live in Switzerland but the growth rate has slowed Keystone

Switzerland’s population growth fell below the 1% mark last year, according to data from the Federal Statistics Office.

A total of 8,482,200 people lived in Switzerland at the end of 2017: 62,600 more than the previous year. Women outnumbered men by 72,676.

The reasons for the slow growth are a continuing fall in net immigration (-10%) to 172,500 and an increase in deaths while the birth rate dropped, the officeExternal link said on Friday.

The number of people emigrating from Switzerland was 121,200 (+0.4%).

At the end of last year, foreigners accounted for 2,125,100 residents in Switzerland – an increase of 1.1% on 2016.

Following a decade with annual population growth of above 1%, the rate dropped to levels seen at the beginning of the millennium.

Swiss abroad

On Thursday, the office also released latest figures for the registered Swiss living abroadExternal link.

At the end of last year, 751,800 Swiss lived in almost 200 countries around the world. The largest Swiss expatriate communities are in neighbouring France and Germany.

Significant expat communities exist also in the United States, Canada, Australia and Israel.