Demographics of Switzerland

This article is about the demographic features of the population of Switzerland, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Switzerland had a population of 8.02 million as of 2012. Its population quadrupled over the period 1800 to 1990 (average doubling time 95 years). Population growth was steepest in the period after World War II (1.4% per annum during 1950-1970, doubling time 50 years), it slowed down during the 1970s to 1980s and has since again picked up to 1% during the 2000s (doubling time 70 years).

More than 75% of the population live in the central plain, which stretches between the Alps and the Jura Mountains and from Geneva in the southwest to the Rhine River and Lake Constance in the northeast. Foreigners with permanent residency (which does not include temporary foreign workers) make up about 23% of the population.

Census

Main article: Census in Switzerland

The Federal Population Census (German: Eidgenössische Volkszählung, French: Recensement fédéral de la population, Italian: Censimento federale della popolazione, Romansh: Dumbraziun federala dal pievel) has been carried out every 10 years starting in 1850.[1] The census was initiated by Federal Councillor Stefano Franscini, who evaluated the data of the first census all by himself after Parliament failed to provide the necessary funds.[2] The census is now being conducted by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office, which makes most results available on its website.

Collected data includes population data (citizenship, place of residence, place of birth, position in household, number of children, religion, languages, education, profession, place of work, etc.), household data (number of individuals living in the household, etc.), accommodation data (surface area, amount of rent paid, etc.) and building data (geocoordinates, time of construction, number of floors, etc.). Participation is compulsory and reached 99.87% of the population in 2000.[3]

Since 2010, the population census has been carried out and analysed annually in a new format by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO). In order to ease the burden on the population, the information is primarily drawn from population registers and supplemented by sample surveys. Only a small proportion of the population (about 5%) are surveyed in writing or by telephone. The first reference day for the new census was 31 December 2010.

Population

Total of registered residents (numbers relate to 31 December):[4][5]

year total male female Swiss foreign
2014 8,236,600 (49.4%) (50.6%) 6,238,400 (75.7%) 1,998,200 (24.3%)
2009 7,785,800 3,830,600 (49.2%) 3,955,200 (50.8%) 6,071,800 (78.0%) 1,714,000 (22.0%)
2008 7,701,900 3,786,700 (49.2%) 3,915,200 (50.8%) 6,032,100 (78.3%) 1,669,700 (21.7%)
2007 7,593,500 3,727,000 (49.1%) 3,866,500 (50.9%) 5,991,400 (78.9%) 1,602,100 (21.1%)
2006 7,508,700 3,679,400 (49.0%) 3,829,400 (51.0%) 5,954,200 (79.3% ) 1,554,500 (20.7%)
2005 7,459,100 3,652,500 (49.0%) 3,806,600 (51.0%) 5,917,200 (79.3%) 1,541,900 (20.7%)
2004 7,415,100 3,628,700 (48.9%) 3,786,400 (51.1%) 5,890,400 (79.4%) 1,524,700 (20.6%)
2003 7,364,100 3,601,500 (48.9%) 3,762,600 (51.1%) 5,863,200 (79.6%) 1,500,900 (20.4%)
2002 7,313,900 3,575,000 (48.9%) 3,738,800 (51.1%) 5,836,900 (79.8%) 1,477,000 (20.2%)
2001 7,255,700 3,544,300 (48.8%) 3,711,300 (51.2%) 5,808,100 (80.0%) 1,447,600 (20.0%)
2000 7,204,100 3,519,700 (48.9%) 3,684,400 (51.1%) 5,779,700 (80.2%) 1,424,400 (19.8%)
1990 6,750,700 3,298,300 (48.9%) 3,452,400 (51.1%) 5,623,600 (83.3%) 1,127,100 (16.7%)
1980 6,335,200 3,082,000 (48.6%) 3,253,300 (51.4%) 5,421,700 (85.6%) 913,500 (14.4%)
1970 6,193,100 3,025,300 (48.8%) 3,167,700 (51.1%) 5,191,200 (83.8%) 1,001,900 (16.2%)
1960–1970 5,429,061 - - - - (10.8%)
1950–1960 4,714,992 - - - - (6.1%)
1941–1950 4,265,703 - - - - (5.2%)
1930–1941 4,066,400 - - - - (8.7%)
1920–1930 3,880,320 - - - - (10.4%)
1910–1920 3,753,293 - - - - (14.7%)
1900–1910 3,315,443 - - - - (11.6%)
1888–1900 2,917,754 - - - - (7.8%)
1880–1888 2,831,787 - - - - (7.4%)
1870–1880 2,655,001 - - - - (5.7%)
1860–1870 2,510,494 - - - - (4.6%)
1850–1860 2,392,740 - - - - (2.9%)
1837–1850 2,190,258 - - - -
1798–1837 1,664,832 - - - -

Growth rate

During the 19th and 20th centuries, population growth rate has been at 0.7% to 0.8%, with a doubling time of ca. 90 years. In the later 20th century, the growth rate has fallen below 0.7% (1980s: 0.64%; 1990s: 0.65%), and in the 2000s it has risen again slightly (20002006: 0.69%), mostly due to immigration. In 2007 the population grew at a much higher 1.1% rate, again mostly due to immigration. For 2008, the population grew 1.6%, a level not seen since the early 1960s.[6]

Total fertility rate[7]

Vital statistics since 1900

Data according to Statistik Schweiz and United Nations.[8][9]

Average population (x 1000) Live births Deaths Natural change Crude birth rate (per 1000) Crude death rate (per 1000) Natural change (per 1000) Fertility rates
1900 3,300 94,316 63,606 30,710 28.6 19.3 9.3
1901 3,341 97,028 60,018 37,010 29.0 18.0 11.1
1902 3,384 96,480 57,702 38,778 28.5 17.1 11.5
1903 3,428 93,824 59,626 34,198 27.4 17.4 10.0
1904 3,472 94,867 60,857 34,010 27.3 17.5 9.8
1905 3,516 94,653 61,800 32,853 26.9 17.6 9.3
1906 3,560 95,595 59,204 36,391 26.9 16.6 10.2
1907 3,604 94,508 59,252 35,256 26.2 16.4 9.8
1908 3,647 96,245 57,697 38,548 26.4 15.8 10.6
1909 3,691 94,112 59,416 34,696 25.5 16.1 9.4
1910 3,735 93,514 56,498 37,016 25.0 15.1 9.9
1911 3,776 91,320 59,619 31,701 24.2 15.8 8.4
1912 3,819 92,196 54,102 38,094 24.1 14.2 10.0
1913 3,864 89,757 55,427 34,330 23.2 14.3 8.9
1914 3,897 87,330 53,629 33,701 22.4 13.8 8.6
1915 3,883 75,545 51,524 24,021 19.5 13.3 6.2
1916 3,883 73,660 50,623 23,037 19.0 13.0 5.9
1917 3,888 72,065 53,306 18,759 18.5 13.7 4.8
1918 3,880 72,658 75,034 -2,376 18.7 19.3 -0.6
1919 3,869 72,125 54,932 17,193 18.6 14.2 4.4
1920 3,877 81,190 55,992 25,198 20.9 14.4 6.5
1921 3,876 80,808 49,518 31,290 20.8 12.8 8.1
1922 3,874 76,290 50,292 25,998 19.7 13.0 6.7
1923 3,883 75,551 45,983 29,568 19.5 11.8 7.6
1924 3,896 73,508 48,988 24,520 18.9 12.6 6.3
1925 3,910 72,570 47,877 24,693 18.6 12.2 6.3
1926 3,932 72,118 46,452 25,666 18.3 11.8 6.5
1927 3,956 69,533 49,202 20,331 17.6 12.4 5.1
1928 3,988 69,594 48,063 21,531 17.4 12.1 5.4
1929 4,022 69,006 50,438 18,568 17.2 12.5 4.6
1930 4,051 69,855 46,939 22,916 17.2 11.6 5.7
1931 4,080 68,249 49,414 18,835 16.7 12.1 4.6
1932 4,102 68,650 49,911 18,739 16.7 12.2 4.6 1.96
1933 4,122 67,509 47,181 20,328 16.4 11.4 4.9 1.91
1934 4,140 67,277 46,806 20,471 16.3 11.3 4.9 1.89
1935 4,155 66,378 50,233 16,145 16.0 12.1 3.9 1.86
1936 4,168 64,966 47,650 17,316 15.6 11.4 4.2 1.82
1937 4,180 62,480 47,274 15,206 14.9 11.3 3.6 1.76
1938 4,192 63,790 48,576 15,214 15.2 11.6 3.6 1.80
1939 4,206 63,837 49,484 14,353 15.2 11.8 3.4 1.81
1940 4,226 64,115 50,759 13,356 15.2 12.0 3.2 1.83
1941 4,254 71,926 47,336 24,590 16.9 11.1 5.8 2.06
1942 4,286 78,875 46,928 31,947 18.4 10.9 7.5 2.28
1943 4,323 83,049 47,409 35,640 19.2 11.0 8.2 2.42
1944 4,364 85,627 52,336 33,291 19.6 12.0 7.6 2.51
1945 4,412 88,522 51,086 37,436 20.1 11.6 8.5 2.61
1946 4,467 89,126 50,276 38,850 20.0 11.3 8.7 2.62
1947 4,524 87,724 51,384 36,340 19.4 11.4 8.0 2.56
1948 4,582 87,763 49,679 38,084 19.2 10.8 8.3 2.54
1949 4,639 85,308 49,497 35,811 18.4 10.7 7.7 2.45
1950 4,694 84,776 47,372 37,404 18.1 10.1 8.0 2.40
1951 4,749 81,903 49,952 31,951 17.2 10.5 6.7 2.30
1952 4,815 83,549 47,624 35,925 17.4 9.9 7.5 2.32
1953 4,878 83,029 49,684 33,345 17.0 10.2 6.8 2.29
1954 4,929 83,741 49,113 34,628 17.0 10.0 7.0 2.28
1955 4,980 85,331 50,366 34,965 17.1 10.1 7.0 2.30
1956 5,045 87,912 51,573 36,339 17.4 10.2 7.2 2.35
1957 5,126 90,823 51,066 39,757 17.7 10.0 7.8 2.41
1958 5,199 91,421 49,281 42,140 17.6 9.5 8.1 2.40
1959 5,259 92,973 50,077 42,896 17.7 9.5 8.2 2.42
1960 5,362 94,372 52,094 42,278 17.6 9.7 7.9 2.34
1961 5,434 99,238 51,004 48,234 18.3 9.4 8.9 2.48
1962 5,574 104,322 55,125 49,197 18.7 9.9 8.8 2.46
1963 5,694 109,993 56,989 53,004 19.3 10.0 9.3 2.68
1964 5,789 112,890 53,609 59,281 19.5 9.3 10.2 2.85
1965 5,856 111,835 55,547 56,288 19.1 9.5 9.6 2.57
1966 5,918 109,738 55,804 53,934 18.5 9.4 9.1 2.47
1967 5,992 107,417 55,142 52,275 17.9 9.2 8.7 2.37
1968 6,068 105,130 57,342 47,788 17.3 9.4 7.9 2.28
1969 6,136 102,520 58,002 44,518 16.7 9.5 7.3 2.12
1970 6,181 99,216 57,091 42,125 16.1 9.2 6.8 2.11
1971 6,213 96,261 57,856 38,405 15.5 9.3 6.2 2.06
1972 6,261 91,342 56,489 34,853 14.6 9.0 5.6 1.95
1973 6,307 87,518 56,990 30,528 13.9 9.0 4.8 1.85
1974 6,341 84,507 56,403 28,104 13.3 8.9 4.4 1.73
1975 6,339 78,464 55,924 22,540 12.4 8.8 3.6 1.63
1976 6,303 74,199 57,095 17,104 11.8 9.1 2.7 1.55
1977 6,281 72,829 55,658 17,171 11.6 8.9 2.7 1.53
1978 6,281 71,375 57,718 13,657 11.4 9.2 2.2 1.53
1979 6,294 71,986 57,454 14,532 11.4 9.1 2.3 1.52
1980 6,319 73,661 59,097 14,564 11.7 9.4 2.3 1.57
1981 6,354 73,747 59,763 13,984 11.6 9.4 2.2 1.59
1982 6,391 74,916 59,204 15,712 11.7 9.3 2.5 1.60
1983 6,419 73,659 60,756 12,903 11.5 9.5 2.0 1.52
1984 6,442 74,710 58,602 16,108 11.6 9.1 2.5 1.52
1985 6,470 74,684 59,583 15,101 11.5 9.2 2.3 1.51
1986 6,504 76,320 60,105 16,215 11.7 9.2 2.5 1.52
1987 6,545 76,505 59,511 16,994 11.7 9.1 2.6 1.56
1988 6,593 80,345 60,648 19,697 12.2 9.2 3.0 1.59
1989 6,647 81,180 60,882 20,298 12.2 9.2 3.1 1.62
1990 6,712 83,939 63,739 20,200 12.5 9.5 3.0 1.63
1991 6,800 86,200 62,634 23,566 12.7 9.2 3.5 1.68
1992 6,875 86,910 62,302 24,608 12.6 9.1 3.6 1.62
1993 6,938 83,762 62,512 21,250 12.1 9.0 3.1 1.53
1994 6,994 82,980 61,987 20,993 11.9 8.9 3.0 1.49
1995 7,041 82,203 63,387 18,816 11.7 9.0 2.7 1.46
1996 7,072 83,007 62,637 20,370 11.7 8.9 2.9 1.53
1997 7,089 79,485 59,967 19,518 11.2 8.5 2.8 1.45
1998 7,110 78,949 62,569 16,380 11.1 8.8 2.3 1.48
1999 7,144 78,408 62,503 15,905 11.0 8.7 2.2 1.47
2000 7,184 78,458 62,528 15,930 10.9 8.7 2.2 1.50
2001 7,230 73,509 61,287 12,222 10.2 8.5 1.7 1.41
2002 7,285 72,372 61,768 10,604 9.9 8.5 1.5 1.39
2003 7,339 71,848 63,070 8,778 9.8 8.6 1.2 1.39
2004 7,390 73,082 60,180 12,902 9.9 8.1 1.7 1.42
2005 7,437 72,903 61,124 11,779 9.8 8.2 1.6 1.43
2006 7,484 73,371 60,283 13,088 9.8 8.1 1.7 1.44
2007 7,551 74,494 61,089 13,405 9.9 8.1 1.8 1.46
2008 7,648 76,691 61,233 15,458 10.0 8.0 2.0 1.48
2009 7,742 78,286 62,476 15,810 10.1 8.1 2.0 1.50
2010 7,858 80,290 62,649 17,641 10.3 8.0 2.3 1.54
2011 7,952 80,808 62,091 18,717 10.2 7.8 2.3 1.52
2012 8,003 82,164 64,173 17,991 10.3 8.0 2.2 1.53
2013 8,021 82,731 64,961 17,770 10.2 8.0 2.2 1.52
2014 85,287 63,938 19,185 10.4 1.54
2015 84,840 67,262 1.51

Age structure

Age Structure 2007. Blue diamonds represent total population in thousands, green triangles represent Swiss Citizens in thousands, and red circles represent foreign population in thousands.
age total (in thousands) percent Swiss (in thousands) foreign (in thousands)
0-10 838.4 11.0% 633.6 202.3 (24%)
11-20 879.6 11.6% 712.0 172.2 (19%)
21-30 926.8 12.2% 674.0 272.7 (29%)
31-40 1,136.8 15.0% 782.9 342.7 (19%)
41-50 1,197.4 15.8% 942.1 282.4 (29%)
51-60 970.1 12.8% 814.9 164.1 (17%)
61-70 740.8 9.8% 661.5 102.4 (14%)
71-80 515.0 6.8% 473.2 47.9 (9%)
81-90 258.2 3.4% 252.6 13.5 (5%)
91+ 45.6 0.6% 44.4 1.9 (4%)
Data: Swiss Federal Statistics Office[10]

As population growth curbs, the percentage of elderly people increases. In July 2006, the Swiss Federal Office of Statistics published a projection estimating that by 2050, one in three adult Swiss will be of retirement age (as opposed to one in five in 2005). Total population was projected to stagnate in 2036 at around 8.1 million and fall slightly to 8 million in 2050. The predicted age structure for 2050 is:

0-20 years: 1,4 million (18%)
20-64 years: 4,4 million (55%)
65 and over: 2,2 million (27%)

Sex ratio

age males (in thousands) females (in thousands) ratio (male/female)
at birth 38.1 36.2 1.05
0-15 651.8 615.6 1.06
16-64 2,551.0 2,530.0 1.01
65+ 524.3 720.9 0.73
total 3,727.0 3,866.5 0.96
Data: Swiss Federal Statistics Office[10] 2007

Life expectancy at birth

According to statistics released by the federal government in 2008, life expectancy stands at 79.7 years for men and 84.4 years for women, for an overall average of 82.1 years for the populace as a whole.[11]

Nationality

Further information: Swiss people and Immigration to Switzerland
The population of Switzerland 1970-2005. Data from Swiss Federal Statistical Office 2005; number of inhabitants in thousands.

Encompassing the Central Alps, Switzerland sits at the crossroads of several major European cultures. Its population includes a two-thirds majority of Alemannic German speakers and a one-quarter Latin minority (French, Italian and Romansh), see linguistic geography of Switzerland. 10% of the population natively speak an immigrant language.

Switzerland consistently ranks high on quality of life indices, including per capita income, concentration of computer and internet usage per capita, insurance coverage per individual, and health care rates. For these and many other reasons, such as the four languages, it serves as an excellent test market for businesses hoping to introduce new products into Europe.

Permanent residents by nationality

The number of registered resident foreigners was 1,001,887 (16.17%) in 1970. This amount decreased to 904,337 (14.34%) in 1979, and has increased steadily since that time, passing the 20% mark during 2001 and rising to 1,524,663 (20.56%) in 2004. The number of Swiss citizens thus numbered about 5.9 million in that year.

In 2013 there were a total of 1,937,447 permanent residents (23.8% of the total population of 8.14 million) in Switzerland. Of these, 1.65 million resident foreigners (85.0%, or 20.2% of the 8.14 Million total population[12][13]), had European citizenship (Italian: 298,875; German: 292,291; Portuguese: 253,227; French: 110,103; Serbian: 90,704; Kosovan: 86,976; Spanish: 75,333, Macedonian: 62,633; British: 40,898; Austrian: 39,494; Bosnian and Herzegovinian: 33,002; Croatian: 30,471). From other continents; 122,941 residents were from Asia; 83,873 from Africa; 78,433 from the Americas; and 4,145 from Oceania.[13]

The following chart shows permanent resident numbers from selected regions and countries every 5 years.

Nation 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2013
Total 913,497 960,674 1,127,109 1,363,590 1,424,370 1,541,912 1,766,277 1,937,447
Europe 859,054 892,748 1,036,760 1,238,937 1,261,975 1,334,590 1,504,943 1,646,825
Africa 10,539 13,130 20,291 28,800 37,618 48,081 71,527 83,873
Americas 20,838 23,438 29,149 38,585 49,687 61,732 74,511 78,433
North America 12,182 12,394 13,775 16,140 18,952 21,004 25,590 26,672
Latin America and Caribbean 8,656 11,044 15,374 22,445 30,735 40,728 48,921 51,761
Asia 21,569 29,772 38,921 54,914 72,002 94,009 110,549 122,941
Oceania 1,260 1,326 1,728 1,999 2,829 3,242 3,990 4,145
Germany 87,389 82,143 84,485 91,976 109,785 158,651 263,271 292,291
Spain 98,098 109,232 116,987 102,320 84,266 72,167 64,126 75,333
France 48,002 48,948 51,729 55,407 61,688 70,901 95,643 110,103
Italy 423,008 394,812 381,493 361,892 321,795 297,917 287,130 298,875
Austria 31,986 29,417 29,123 28,454 29,191 33,069 37,013 39,494
Portugal 10,863 31,029 86,035 135,646 135,449 167,857 212,586 253,227
United Kingdom 16,050 17,482 18,269 20,030 22,309 26,425 37,273 40,898
Croatia - - - 42,582 43,876 40,709 33,507 30,471
Serbia and Montenegro - - - - 190,940 196,833 - -
Serbia - - - - - - 121,908 90,704
Montenegro - - - - - - 2,022 2,415
Kosovo - - - - - - 58,755 86,976
Bosnia and Herzegovina - - - 24,748 45,111 43,354 35,513 33,002
Macedonia - - - 39,540 56,092 60,898 60,116 62,633
Albania 15 17 29 576 1,093 1,218 1,308 1,425
Sri Lanka 373 808 2,840 9,841 20,215 31,865 28,963 27,074
Iraq 352 378 454 771 2,046 3,257 7,553 7,185
Turkey 38,353 51,206 64,899 79,372 80,165 75,903 71,835 70,440

Source:[13]

Tamil refugees fleeing from war in Sri Lanka are the largest number of Asians, while Albanians and other former Yugoslavians continue to grow in number. Switzerland is also the second largest European country in number of acceptance of Iraqi refugees fleeing from the violence in Iraq since 2003, but behind Great Britain, Germany and Sweden in the number of Iraqis taken residence for a European country.

Naturalization

In 2004, 35,700 people acquired Swiss citizenship according to Swiss nationality law, a figure slightly larger than that of the previous year (35,424), and four times larger than the 1990 figure (8,658). About a third of those naturalized are from a successor state of Former Yugoslavia: 7,900 Serbia-Montenegro, 2,400 Bosnia-Herzegovina, 2,000 Macedonia, 1,600 Croatia. 4,200 were from Italy, 3,600 from Turkey, 1,600 from Sri Lanka, 1,200 from Portugal, and 1,200 from France.[14]

The yearly rate of naturalization has quintupled over the 1990s and 2000s, from roughly 9,000 to 45,000. Relative to the population of resident foreigners, this amounts to an increase from 8% in 1990 to 27% in 2007, or relative to the number of Swiss citizens from 1.6% in 1990 to 7.3% in 2007.

The following table shows the historical development of naturalization from selected countries.[15]

Origin 1981 1985 1990 1995 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Total 14,299 14,393 8,658 16,790 28,700 27,583 36,515 35,424 35,685 38,437 46,711 43,889 44,365 43,440 39,314 36,012 33,500 34,061
Europe 12,978 12,349 6,970 12,592 21,975 20,969 28,102 27,558 27,728 30,109 36,087 33,771 34,879 33,795 30,458 27,769 25,778 26,457
Africa 283 341 273 919 1,824 1,900 2,163 1,954 1,848 2,064 2,619 2,883 2,599 2,627 2,499 2,337 2,417 2,363
North America 171 277 139 230 321 316 376 367 333 336 407 451 371 427 428 410 443 499
South America
and Caribbean
245 442 461 777 1,554 1,528 1,790 1,749 1,626 1,478 1,859 1,921 1,675 1,802 1,587 1,613 1,407 1,609
Asia 590 928 796 2,226 2,981 2,830 4,033 3,717 4,065 4,382 5,666 4,787 4,771 4,710 4,261 3,788 3,349 3,038
Oceania 30 52 12 24 29 27 35 67 73 59 62 61 56 55 58 62 64 66
Italy 4,665 3,259 1,995 4,376 6,652 5,386 6,633 5,085 4,196 4,032 4,502 4,629 4,921 4,804 4,111 4,033 3,998 4,379
Germany 2,650 2,839 1,144 703 646 585 817 670 639 773 1,144 1,361 3,022 4,035 3,617 3,516 3,357 3,804
Kosovo 1,611 2,518 2,556 2,640
Serbia 6,859 4,261 3,362 2,529
Portugal 86 127 170 175 765 779 920 1,165 1,199 1,505 2,383 2,201 1,761 2,336 2,217 2,211 2,071 2,184
Turkey 150 189 211 1,205 3,127 3,116 4,128 4,216 3,565 3,467 3,457 3,044 2,866 2,593 2,091 1,852 1,638 1,622
France 1,262 1,228 684 871 1,360 1,306 1,367 1,215 1,181 1,021 1,260 1,218 1,110 1,314 1,084 1,272 1,197 1,558
Macedonia 76 857 1,022 1,639 1,802 1,981 2,171 2,596 2,210 2,287 1,831 1,586 1,322 1,212 1,270
Bosnia and
Herzegovina
112 999 1,128 1,865 2,268 2,371 2,790 3,149 3,016 2,855 2,408 1,924 1,610 1,145 1,156
Croatia 577 970 1,045 1,638 1,565 1,616 1,681 1,837 1,660 2,046 1,599 1,483 1,268 1,195 1,118
Spain 567 643 401 431 851 699 691 800 823 975 1,283 1,246 1,096 1,245 1,120 1,044 1,033 1,047
Sri Lanka 7 104 30 42 375 446 1,124 1,139 1,565 1,996 2,941 2,206 2,348 2,158 1,783 1,467 1,170 890
Iraq 2 8 3 15 40 42 33 54 67 80 139 142 163 190 240 266 399 355

Emigration

In 2004, 623,100 Swiss citizens (8.9%) lived abroad, the largest group in France (166,200), followed by the USA (71,400) and Germany (70,500). (see Swiss diaspora).

Religions

Distribution of denominations in Switzerland in 2015 (green: Protestant, red: Catholic)

Switzerland has no state religion, though most of the cantons (except for Geneva and Neuchâtel) recognize official churches (Landeskirchen), in all cases including the Catholic Church and the Swiss Reformed Church. These churches, and in some cantons also the Old Catholic Church and Jewish congregations, are financed by official taxation of adherents. Christianity is the predominant religion of Switzerland, but is slowly shrinking over the decades (74% of total resident population in 2010). 20% of the total population were irreligious in 2010. The largest minority religion is Islam: 4,5% (2010 census).

In 2000, 5.78 million residents (79.2%, compared to 93.8% in 1980) were Christian (Roman Catholic 41.8%, Protestant 35.3%, Orthodox 1.8%). 809,800 (11.1%, compared to 3.8% in 1980) were without any religious affiliation. 310,800 (4.3%) were Muslim (compared to 0.9% in 1980), 17,900 (0.2%) were Jewish. The 2005 Eurobarometer poll[16] found 48% of Swiss residents to be theist, 39% expressing belief in "some sort of spirit or life force", 9% atheist and 4% said that they "don't know".

As of 2012, there were 918,126 people aged 15–24 in Switzerland, of which 347,328 (37.8%) were Catholics, 232,634 (25.4%) Protestants, 57,033 (6.2%) other Christian denominations, 2,005 (0.2%) Jewish, 76,502 (8.3%) Muslims, 12,992 (1.4%) other religious communities and 176,969 (19.3%) without religion.

Languages

Main languages in Switzerland:[17]
German (63.7%),
French (20.4%),
Italian (6.5%),
Romansh (0.5%)

The four national languages of Switzerland are German, French, Italian and Romansh. Native speakers number about 64% (4.6 million) for German (mostly Swiss German dialects), 20% (1.5 million) for French (mostly Swiss French, but including some Franco-Provençal dialects), 7% (0.5 million, mostly Swiss Italian, but including Insubric dialects) for Italian and less than 0.5% (35,000) for Romansh.

The non-official language with the largest group of native speakers is Serbo-Croatian with 103,000 speakers in 2000, followed by Albanian with 95,000, Portuguese with 89,500, Spanish with 77,500, English with 73,000, Macedonian 61,300,[18] and a total of 173,000 speakers of other languages, amounting to roughly 10% of the population with a native language not among the four official languages.[19]

Education

Almost all Swiss are literate. Switzerland's 13 institutes of higher learning enrolled 99,600 students in the academic year of 2001-02. About 25% of the adult population hold a diploma of higher learning. According to the CIA World Factbook data for 2003, 99% of the Swiss population aged 15 and over could read and write, with the rate being identical for both sexes.[20]

During the 2008/09 school year there were 1,502,257 students in the entire Swiss educational system. In kindergarten or pre-school, there were 152,919 students (48.6% female). These students were taught by 13,592 teachers (96.0% female) in 4,949 schools, of which 301 were private schools. There were 777,394 students (48.6% female) in the obligatory schools, which include primary and lower secondary schools. These students were taught by 74,501 teachers (66.3% female) in 6,083 schools, of which 614 were private. The upper secondary school system had 337,145 students (46.9% female). They were taught by 13,900 teachers (42.3% female) in 730 schools, of which 240 were private. The tertiary education system had 234,799 students (49.7% female). They were taught by 37,546 teachers (32.8% female) in 367 schools.[21]

Regional disparities

Cantons Tax index for all Federal, Cantonal and Church Taxes (Switzerland = 100.0)
2006
Tax rate (% of total income) for a married couple with two children and 50,000CHF in income
2006
Tax rate (% of total income) for a married couple with two children and 150,000CHF in income
2006
Population under 20 as a percentage of total population aged 20–64
2007
National Income per person in CHF
2005
Change in National Income per person
2003-2005
Switzerland 100 2.36 11.56 34.59 54,031 5.3
Zurich 82.9 2.16 8.65 31.12 68,803 4.6
Bern 123.1 2.14 13.91 33.05 45,643 5
Lucerne 119 3.47 12.56 37.19 43,910 5.3
Uri 144.2 4.54 12.42 37.06 45,711 5.3
Schwyz 66.5 2.26 6.98 36.95 50,170 6.3
Obwalden 146.5 4.14 11.53 40.88 39,645 4.7
Nidwalden 79.1 2.31 9.41 34.55 73,285 15.6
Glarus 134.8 4.62 12.56 36.85 73,236 10.9
Zug 50.3 0.47 5.5 35.45 93,752 5.4
Fribourg 126.4 2.33 12.74 40.2 39,559 2.6
Solothurn 116.9 2.36 12.95 34.34 46,844 4.9
Basel-Stadt 113.1 1.01 14.3 26.6 115,178 15.9
Basel-Landschaft 92.5 2.12 12.4 33 53,501 3.9
Schaffhausen 114.6 2.94 11.62 32.92 55,125 5.4
Appenzell Ausserrhoden 121.7 3.8 12.06 37.6 44,215 4.7
Appenzell Innerrhoden 105.6 3.18 9.88 44.46 45,936 7.4
St. Gallen 115.5 2.53 12.68 37.66 44,866 4
Graubünden 112.2 2.99 11.51 33.97 49,355 11.7
Aargau 87.4 1.52 10.4 34.9 49,209 2.5
Thurgau 86.6 0.34 11.48 37.52 44,918 3.2
Ticino 64.6 0.24 9.04 31.14 41,335 3.4
Vaud 106.2 0.42 12.2 37.87 52,901 3.4
Valais 121.3 2.72 10.68 35.18 38,385 6
Neuchâtel 137.1 3.8 15.96 38.06 49,775 6.6
Geneva 89.8 0.05 11.81 35.4 62,839 5.1
Jura 126.6 2.87 15.26 40.09 38,069 6.4
Source:[22]

Crime

Main article: Crime in Switzerland

The police registered a total of 553,421 criminal offences in 2009, including 51 killings and 185 attempted murders. There were 616 cases of rape. In the same year, 94,574 adults (85% of them male, 47.4% of them Swiss citizens) were convicted under criminal law. 57.3% of convictions were for traffic offences.[23]

In the same year, 15,064 minors (78.3% of them male, 68.2% of them of Swiss nationality, 76.3% aged between 15 and 18) were convicted.[24]

The number of convictions in the last five years is given in the following table.[25] Each class of crime references the relevant section of the Swiss penal code (Strafgesetzbuch, abbreviated StGB) or the Swiss traffic laws (Strassenverkehrsgesetz, abbr. SVG).

Year Total Convictions Homicide
(Art. 111,112,113,116 StGB)
Serious Bodily Injury
(Art. 122 StGB)
Minor Bodily Injury
(Art. 123 StGB)
Sexual Contact with Children
(Art. 187 StGB)
Rape
(Art. 190 StGB)
Theft
(Art. 139 StGB)
Robbery
(Art. 140 StGB)
Receiving Stolen Goods
(Art. 160 StGB)
Embezzlement
(Art. 138 StGB)
Fraud
(Art. 146 StGB)
Narcotics Possession Major Violation of Traffic Laws
(Art. 90 SVG)
Drunk Driving
(Art. 91 Abs. 1 Satz 2 SVG)
2005 85,605 93 94 2,459 413 109 6,557 489 1,262 910 1,484 2,846 22,163 15,776
2006 90,592 95 105 2,523 382 131 6,569 553 1,196 880 1,521 2,616 21,599 18,439
2007 84,665 93 88 2,248 380 135 5,979 522 922 807 1,607 2,462 21,431 17,355
2008 93,024 95 133 2,635 415 133 6,345 522 905 848 1,665 2,606 25,339 17,836
2009 94,574 84 118 2,578 366 108 6,947 514 924 820 1,506 2,708 25,434 16,708

Major cities

See also

Notes and references

  1. with the exceptions of the censuses of 1888 and 1941.
  2. History of the Federal Population Census, Swiss Federal Statistical Office, accessed October 2007
  3. Overview of the Federal Population Census, Swiss Federal Statistical Office, accessed October 2007
  4. Swiss Federal Statistics Office (2009). "Struktur der ständigen Wohnbevölkerung" (Microsoft Excel). Retrieved 2010-08-25.
  5. Head-König, Anne-Lise in Population in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
  6. "Resident Population in Switzerland 2008" (PDF) (Press release). Swiss Federal Statistical Office. 27 August 2009. Retrieved 28 January 2009. (English)
  7. Swiss Federal Statistics Office
  8. United Nations Demographic Yearbooks
  9. Statistik Schweiz
  10. 1 2 Swiss Federal Statistics Office (2008). "Ständige Wohnbevölkerung nach Alter und Geschlecht" (Microsoft Excel). Retrieved 2009-01-05.
  11. Swiss Federal Statistical Office press release #0351-0907-20 dated 2-7-2009 (French)
  12. Bevölkerung - Die wichtigsten Zahlen Swiss Federal Statistical Office, accessed 6 October 2014
  13. 1 2 3 Ständige ausländische Wohnbevölkerung nach Staatsangehörigkeit, am Ende des Jahres Swiss Federal Statistical Office, accessed 6 October 2014
  14. Swiss Federal Statistics Office
  15. Federal Office of Statistics - Erwerb des Schweizer Bürgerrechts nach früherer Staatsangehörigkeit accessed 17 October 2014
  16. available at EU Public Opinion Survey
  17. Swiss Federal Statistical Office, Federal Population Census 2000
  18. Swiss Federal Statistics Office-Languages
  19. Lüdi, Georges; Werlen, Iwar. Recensement Fédéral de la Population 2000 Le Paysage Linguistique en Suisse. Neuchâtel, avril 2005: Office fédéral de la statistique. Accessed from Encyclopédie statistique de la Suisse on 5 January 2006.
  20. CIA - The World Factbook -- Switzerland
  21. Swiss Federal Statistical Office Ueberblick - Schulstufen (German) accessed 15 November 2010
  22. Regionale Disparitäten in der Schweiz - Schlüsselindikatoren (German) (French) accessed 20 December 2011
  23. Swiss Federal Statistical Office Verurteilungen (Erwachsene) - Daten, Indikatoren - Demographische Merkmale der Verurteilten (German) accessed 14 November 2010
  24. Swiss Federal Statistical Office Jugendstrafurteile - Daten, Indikatoren (German) accessed 15 November 2010
  25. Swiss Federal Statistical Office Verurteilungen für Verbrechen und Vergehen nach ausgewählten Straftaten (German) accessed 15 November 2010
  26. "Population résidante permanente selon l'âge, par canton, district et commune". Office fédéral de la statistique. Retrieved 13 August 2013.

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