Language spoken by situation (family and professional)

Relevance/Result

This indicator shows which languages people use in their personal, family and work spheres. A large number of young people not speaking a local language at home, for example, would indicate a potential need for help or support in acquiring language skills.

In Switzerland, from 2017 to 2019, 82% of the permanent resident population aged 15 and over used at least one local language at home. Among the population with a migration background from the first generation, the rate is 50% compared with 85% in the second and subsequent generations.

At work, the rate is 96%. In this context, it is highest among people with no migration background and in the population with a migration background from the second or subsequent generations, at more than 98% of the employed population. The first generation has a lower rate (90%).

Language region

In all language regions, the population without a migration background uses at least one local language at home more regularly than the population with a migration background. The largest difference is in the Romansh-speaking area (a difference of 55 percentage points), the smallest in the Italian-speaking region (a difference of 5 percentage points).

With the exception of the Italian-speaking region, the population without a migration background systematically has a significantly higher rate of people using at least one local language at work than the population with a migration background. The highest gap is again found in the Romansh-speaking region (+39 percentage points).

Definitions

This indicator provides the percentage of the permanent resident population aged 15 and or over who use a local language in the private sphere as well as the percentage of the employed population who use a local language at work or school. It is based on the following questions from the structural survey: Which language(s) do you usually speak at home/with your relatives? (several answers possible)” and “Which language(s) do you usually speak at work/school? (several answers possible.)”. The following are considered as local languages at work: German, Swiss-German, Italian, Ticino/Italo-Graubünden dialect, French and Romansh. At home, the following are considered: Swiss-German, Italian, Ticino/Italo-Graubünden dialect, French and Romansh.

You can access the indicators in one of the following ways

All indicators

Some 68 indicators describe the current situation and changes in the integration of the population with a migration background and/or of foreign nationals in Switzerland in eleven areas of life in our society.

Key indicators

34 key indicators provide an overview of the progress made on the journey towards integration and the state of integration of the population with a migration background. If this information is lacking, the population is shown by nationality, and where this variable is available, the country of birth.