Immigration to Switzerland
The largest immigrant groups in Switzerland are those from Germany, Italy, France, the former Yugoslavia, Albania, Portugal and Turkey, including Turks and Kurds.
Some countries naturalise immigrants easily, while others make it much more difficult, which means that such comparisons ought to be treated with caution.
[2][3][4] Switzerland also has the highest Potential Net Migration Index of any European country by a large margin, at +150% (followed by Sweden at +78%) according to a 2010 Gallup study; this means that out of an estimated 700 million potential migrants worldwide, about 12 million (150% of Swiss resident population) would name Switzerland as their most desired country of residence.
[5] Commonly named reasons for relocation to Switzerland are safety, strong economy, and high quality of education.
[6] Another ground for immigrants from developed countries is the relatively favorable personal income tax (up to 11,5%) incorporated in the Swiss taxation system.
[7][failed verification] In the 2000s, domestic and international institutions expressed concern about what was perceived as an increase in xenophobia, particularly in some political campaigns.
[9] The proportion of the population that has reported being targeted by racial discrimination has increased in recent years, from 10% in 2014 to almost 17% in 2018, according to the Federal Statistical Office.
[10] More recent studies show that full integration is "out of reach for non-European migrants" while they represent only 20% of the foreigners living in Switzerland.
[16] In 2024, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) condemned Switzerland for its racial profiling practices.
[17] Industrialization and banking made Switzerland prosperous by the late 19th century and began to attract significant numbers of migrant workers.
Beginning in the mid-1950s, immigration increased steeply, and the historical record of close to 15% foreigners prior to World War I was surpassed at some time during the 1960s.
[1] The favorable economic climate of the 1980s brought a renewed demand for labour, which was filled by foreign workers.
With this reform, the possibility of recruiting unskilled workers from non-EU/EFTA countries was abolished, with the exception of family reunification and asylum applications.
[20] The admission of people from non-EU/EFTA countries is regulated by the Foreign Nationals Act, and is limited to skilled workers who are urgently required and are likely to integrate successfully in the long term.
Source:[28] [29] The definition of population of immigrant background includes all persons, regardless of their nationality, whose parents were born abroad.
[30] In 2011, people of non-Swiss background made up 37.2% of the total resident population of Switzerland, with large differences between cantons.
