Population by migration status

In international discussions on immigration and integration, the term population with a migration background is used with growing frequency. This concept is increasingly used to replace the simple distinction between citizens (or nationals) and foreign citizens (or non-nationals), which does not take into account whether individuals are themselves immigrants or have an indirect connection to migration through their parents' migration experiences.

The "population with a migration background" as defined by the FSO includes all foreign nationals, naturalized Swiss citizens, except for those born in Switzerland and whose parents were both born in Switzerland, as well as Swiss citizens at birth whose parents were both born abroad.

Typology of the population by migration status

Following similar approaches in many other countries, the FSO has drawn up a typology of the population by migration status for Switzerland on the basis of UN international recommendations.

A person's migration status is defined by combining the following variables: the country of birth, the nationality (current and at birth) of the reference person, as well as the variables country of birth of both parents.

Typology of population by migration status
Place of birth	Nationality	Place of birth of the parents
		2 in Switzerland	1 in Switzerland and 1 abroad	2 abroad
Swiss	Swiss at birth	0	0	II
	Swiss by naturalization	0	II	II
	Foreigner	0	II	II
Foreigner	Swiss at birth	0	0	I
	Swiss by naturalization	I	I	I
	Foreigner	I	I	I

I Population with a migration background, 1st generation
II Population with a migration background, 2nd generation
0 Population without a migration background

Key figures on persons aged 15 and over

Permanent resident population aged 15 or over, by migration status, 2020
	In thousand	In %
Total	7 270	100.0
Population without a migration background	4 362	60.0
Swiss citizens	4 355	59.9
of whom naturalised (3^rd generation or higher)	18	0.3
Persons with a foreign citizenship (3^rd generation or higher)	7	0.1
Population with a migration background	2 766	38.0
Swiss citizens	1007	13.9
of whom naturalised	887	12.2
Persons with a foreign citizenship	1 759	24.2
1^st generation	2 236	30.8
Swiss citizens	654	9.0
of whom naturalised	624	8.6
Persons with a foreign citizenship	1 582	21.8
2^nd generation	530	7.3
Swiss citizens	353	4.9
of whom naturalised	263	3.6
Persons with a foreign citizenship	177	2.4
Population for whom some relevant data are unavailable	142	2.0

Sources: FSO, Swiss Labour Force Survey (SLFS)

In 2020, 38% of the permanent resident population has a migration background (2,766,000). More than a third of this population (1,007,000) has Swiss nationality. More than four-fifths of the persons with a migration background belong to the first generation (2,236,000). The remaining fifth was born in Switzerland and is thus part of the second generation (530,000).

The population without a migration background comprises mostly Swiss-born (99.4%), but also naturalized persons (0.4%) and foreign nationals from the third or a higher generation (0.2%).

With the exception of Swiss-born persons who have at least one parent born in Switzerland, all persons born abroad are considered as belonging to the first generation of persons with a migration background (more than 2.2 million in the population aged 15 and over in 2020).

This group is composed of:

foreign nationals born abroad (comprising slightly more than 70% of the group: 1,582,000);
Swiss-born persons born abroad and whose parents were both born abroad (30,000);
foreign-born naturalized persons (624,000).

The second generation, i.e. persons with a migration background born in Switzerland (530,000 individuals), is composed of naturalized persons (50%), foreign nationals with at least one parent born abroad (33%) and Swiss-born persons whose parents were both born abroad (17%).

Population growth over time

Permanent resident population aged 15 and over by migration status, in thousand, 2015-2020
	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
Total	6995	7062	7116	7165	7214	7270
Population without a migration background	4400	4393	4402	4374	4352	4362
Population with a migration background	2528	2602	2647	2686	2722	2766
1^st generation	2042	2104	2134	2165	2202	2236
2^nd generation	486	498	513	521	520	530
Persons for whom some relevant data are unavailable	67	68	67	105	140	142

Permanent resident population aged 15 and over by migration status, in %, 2015-2020
	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
Total	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0
Population without a migration background	62.9	62.2	61.9	61.0	60.3	60.0
Population with a migration background	36.1	36.8	37.2	37.5	37.7	38.0
1^st generation	29.2	29.8	30.0	30.2	30.5	30.8
2^nd generation	6.9	7.1	7.2	7.3	7.2	7.3
Persons for whom some relevant data are unavailable	1.0	1.0	0.9	1.5	1.9	2.0

Sources: FSO, Swiss Labour Force Survey (SLFS)

Between 2015 and 2020, the permanent resident population aged 15 and over with a migration background increased (+1.9 percentage points), whereas the population without a migration background experienced a decrease (-2.9 percentage points). The increase since 2018 in the number of persons for whom some relevant data are unavailable is due to the fact that people aged 90 and higher have not been surveyed in the SLFS since 2018. Therefore, it is not possible to determine the nationality at birth of these persons; which is an indispensable information to construct the migration status.

In 2020, 60% of the Swiss permanent resident population aged 15 or over had no migration background. In comparison with 2019, this is a decrease of 0.3 percentage point.

An analysis of the generation status shows that the first generation and the second generation have increased (+0.3 and +0.1 percentage point in comparison with 2019). The analysis by nationality reveals that more than 70% of the growth in the number of persons with a migration background is attributable to citizens of EU27 and EFTA member states and to Swiss nationals (+32,000). The rise was less distinct for nationals of other European countries and from elsewhere in the world (+11,000).

By nationality

The most represented nationality among the population with a migration background is the Swiss nationality, corresponding to over a third of this population. The proportion of women with Swiss nationality is greater than that of men (40% and 33% respectively). After the Swiss nationality, the most represented nationality among men is Italian. For women, it is the German nationality. The reverse holds true for the third position, with German nationality for men and Italian nationality for women. Portuguese nationality holds the fourth place for both sexes in the population with a migration background, followed by French nationality.

Among the population with a migration background from the first generation, slightly less than half are citizens of EU27 and EFTA member states, almost 30% are Swiss, 13% are citizens of other European countries and 11% are from elsewhere in the world. In the second generation, more than 67% have Swiss nationality and 24% are from a EU27 or EFTA member state.

By age and sex

The age pyramid of the population with a migration background differs from that of the population without a migration background. With a mean age of 45, the population with a migration background is younger than the population without a migration background (mean age of almost 50). People aged 25-50 are overrepresented among the population with a migration background compared to the population without a migration background.

The old age dependency ratio, i.e. the ratio between persons aged 65 or over and the working-age population between 20 and 64, is more than twice as high (39) in the population without a migration background than in the population with a migration background (16).

Overall, regardless of migration status, the population is equally divided with regard to sex, with a small majority of women (51%) in comparison with men (49%). However, the second generation tends to have more men (54%) than women (46%).

Distribution among cantons

The population by migration status is not spread evenly among the cantons. At national level, 38% of the Swiss permanent resident population aged 15 or over has a migration background. This percentage is higher than 60% in the canton of Geneva. The rates are also particularly high in the cantons of Zurich, Zug, Basel-Stadt, Schaffhausen, Ticino, Vaud, and Neuchâtel (40% and above). In contrast, the percentage of the population with a migration background is less than 20% in the cantons of Obwalden, Uri and Appenzell Innerrhoden (results from the two latter cantons, however, should be interpreted with caution as the extrapolations are based on fewer than 50 observations).

The proportions of people from the first and second generation differ between cantons. At the national level, the first generation represents 31% of the permanent resident population aged 15 and over; the second generation 7%. The ratio is, therefore, around 4:1. In certain cantons such as Obwalden, the ratio shows that the second generation is proportionally under-represented (ratio higher than 6:1). In contrast, in comparison with the national average, the second generation is over-represented in relation to the first generation in the cantons of Glarus, Solothurn, Basel-Stadt, Appenzell Innerrhoden, St. Gallen, Aargau, Thurgau, Ticino, Neuchâtel, Geneva and Jura.

Persons younger than 15

It is not possible to determine the migration status of children under the age of 15 with FSO data. However, information can be obtained regarding their place of birth and nationality.

Almost three-quarters of the population aged under 15 is Swiss and was born in Switzerland. The remaining quarter was either born abroad (10%: 8% foreign nationals and 2% Swiss nationals), or born in Switzerland and of foreign nationality (19%).

Permanent resident population aged 0 to 14 by nationality and place of birth, 31.12.2020
	In thousand	In %
Total	1 306	100.0
Swiss	955	73.1
Foreigners	351	26.9
Persons born in Switzerland	1 177	90.1
Swiss	930	71.2
Foreigners	247	18.9
Persons born abroad	129	9.9
Swiss	25	1.9
Foreigners	104	8.0

Source: FSO, Population and Households Statistics (STATPOP)

Top ten nationalities

Children with a foreign nationality (more than 25% of the population aged under 15) are mainly Portuguese, German and Italian (13%, 12% and 11%, respectively). Children of Kosovan, French and North Macedonian nationality are also strongly represented among foreign nationals aged 0 to 14.

Age pyramid and sex

Depending on their place of birth, the age pyramid for children under 15 has a different shape: it is rectangular for those born in Switzerland and an inverse pyramid for those born abroad. The age pyramid of children born outside Switzerland is narrow at its base, as they are children who immigrated to Switzerland during their early childhood. There are no large differences between girl and boy populations by age and country of birth.

Children according to migration status of household

The migration status of the household is defined by combining the nationality and place of birth of the household members. For more information on defining the migratory status of the household, see the 'Definitions' tab below.

Cumulative data from 2017 to 2019 show that less than half of children aged 0 to 14 were living in a household with no migration background (42% of 0-6 year-olds and 45% of 7-14 year-olds). A third of them were living in a household with a migration background (36%). 21% of children aged 0 to 6 lived in a household with a mixed migration/non-migration background. This is a higher percentage than for children aged 7 to 14 where the figure was 17%.

Definitions
Links

A household’s migration status is established as follows:

The household has no migration background if neither the father nor mother alone, nor both members of a couple (with or without child(ren)) nor any person in a non-family household or other type of household is not born abroad or does not have a foreign nationality. The household has a migration background if the father or mother, or both members of a couple (with or without child(ren)) or all people in a non-family household or other type of household are born abroad or have a foreign nationality. The household has a mixed migration background if one of the two members of a couple (with or without child(ren)) or at least one of the persons in a non-family household or other type of household is born abroad or has a foreign nationality and the other(s) does/do not.

Adapted migration status for measuring integration