Swiss Population Abroad Increases On All Continents

With an increase of 1.4%, growth was slightly lower than in the previous year (+1.6%), as reported by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) on Tuesday. The FSO cited an improvement in the reporting of deaths in some countries as one reason for this. Of the Swiss nationals living abroad, 21% were under the age of 18, more than half were between 18 and 64 and 24% were 65 or older.

The number of Swiss nationals living abroad increased on all continents. Asia recorded the highest growth at 3%, followed by Europe at 1.5%. The increase was 1.1% in North America, 1% in Oceania, 0.6% in Africa and 0.3% in Latin America and the Caribbean. In addition to migration movements, births, deaths and naturalisations also contributed to this development, wrote the FSO.

+ The Swiss Abroad in nine charts

A total of 64% of all Swiss nationals abroad lived in Europe in 2025, corresponding to 538,600 people. Of these, 392,200 people, or 47% of all Swiss Abroad, lived in a neighbouring country. The largest community was in France with 212,400 people. This was followed by Germany with 102,100, Italy with 53,100, Austria with 19,100 and Liechtenstein with 5,600 people.

Other large communities in Europe were in the United Kingdom (41,400) and Spain (28,200). The largest increases were recorded in Liechtenstein (+6.4%), Spain (+3.1%) and Austria (+2.1%).

Around 300,000 Swiss nationals lived outside Europe. The largest community was in the US with 85,900 people. Canada followed in second and third place with 42,000 and Australia with 27,000 nationals.

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