Racism and integration

Multiple players act and make effort to improve the coexistence in Switzerland. How does the population see the Swiss policies regarding migrant integration and the fight against racism?

The average value of the indicator measuring the perception of racism as a social problem is 60% in 2022. This means that 6 out of 10 persons said that racism is an important issue in Switzerland.

Evolution

Over the period, the proportion of the population saying that racism is an important issue statistically and significantly decreased:

• -6 percentage points between 2016 and 2022
• -11 percentage points between 2010 and 2022

 

Comparison

In addition to the perception of racism, the perception of integration is analysed. In this other area, in 2022, 59% of the population, i.e. almost 6 out of 10 people, said that the migrant integration is proceeding well in Switzerland.

Method

Assessment of racism as a social problem and the process of migrant integration, in Switzerland, by the population (see codebook questions evpol_int_01, evpol_rac_01).

Policy perceptions

Fight against racism: 58% said that the steps taken to fight racism in Switzerland were in line with needs, 6% that too much is done and 34% not enough.

Migrant integration: 60% of the population said that the steps taken to promote migrant integration in Switzerland were in line with needs, 12% that too much is being done and 27% not enough.

Method

Proportion of the population that thinks the steps taken are just right, too little or too much with regard to the fight against racism and migrant integration in Switzerland (see codebook questions evpol_int_02, evpol_rac_02).

The State is the institution mentioned most often as key player in the fight against racism and in migrant integration. Although each individual is considered to be key player in the fight against racism, individual responsibility is considered less important for integration where the role of the associations comes to the forefront.

Ranking 2022

Rank	Overall ranking	Migrant integration	Fight against racism
Top 5
1	state	state	state
2	associations	associations	citizens
3	citizens	citizens	political world
4	political world	political world	schools
5	schools	schools	associations
Top 10
6	economic circles	social security	media
7	media	economic circles	economic circles
8	social security	foreigners	legislative power
9	other players	other players	other players
10	legislative power	sport	churches

Fight against racism: Of all the people dissatisfied with the situation in terms of the fight against racism, 28% consider that steps should be taken by the State, 21% by the associations, and 18% by the politicians.

Migrant integration: Of all the people dissatisfied with the situation in terms of migrant integration, 52% consider that measures should be taken by the State, 23% by each individual, 11% by the associations.

Method

Proportion of the population that thinks a particular player should take measures, by issue (fight against racism, migrant integration). Based on a multiple choice question (see codebook questions evpol_rac_03_ac, evpol_rac_04_ac, evpol_int_03_ac, evpol_int_04_ac).

Information on data

Permanent resident population aged 15 to 88 who think that measures should be taken or that too much or too little is done to integrate migrants and to fight racism.

Non-weighted numbers
Integration	n = 1105
Fight against acism	n = 1132

Personal commitment

While racism is seen as an important social problem and individual responsibility is often invoked in the fight against it, is the population willing to take action?

Almost 80% of the population say they are willing to make a personal commitment to fighting racism through at least one concrete action such as signing a petition, reporting racist statements online or by participating in a demonstration.

In concrete situations – racist act by the police, on public transport or in the workplace – the proportion of the population who say they intervene to help the victim in all three cases is 8%.

In relation to the willingness to engage (80%), intervention in the event of a racist act (8%) is 10 times less common.

Method

Proportion of the willing to engage against racism and proportion of the population willing to intervene in the event of a racist act (voir codebook questions action_, sit_profil, sit_joke, sit_insult).

Further information

Tables

Sources

• Source: Survey on diversity and coexistence in Switzerland
• Years: 2010-2014 (pilot), 2016, 2018, 2020, 2021 (module), 2022
• Universe: Permanent resident population aged 15 to 88
• Non-weighted numbers: n (2021) = 3266, n (2022) = 2908