Cross-cultural competencies

This indicator highlights the host society’s ability to receive and include the population groups perceived as different from a cultural or national point of view. These abilities are important because they facilitate contact between the majority group and the minority groups.

These abilities are measured from two different aspects. The first shows the majority population’s openness towards diversity in everyday life. The second shows the percentage of people who are of the opinion that the diversity of national and cultural origins is an enrichment for the culture of Switzerland.

In 2020, 74% of the permanent resident population aged 15 to 88 showed openness towards diversity in their everyday life. This percentage is higher in the population with a migration background than in the population without (83% and 68% respectively).

From 2018 to 2020, there has been a significant increase in the proportion of persons who do not feel bothered in their daily lives by persons perceived as different in the population with a migration background (from 74% to 83%) and in the population without a migration background (from 59% to 68%).

Due to a change in the measurement scale of this indicator, a comparison with the results of the year 2016 is not legitimate (see definition).

In German and Romansh-speaking Switzerland and in French-speaking Switzerland, the population with no migration background was less open towards diversity in its daily life. In the Italian-speaking Switzerland, the difference between both population groups was not statistically significant.

In Switzerland, 74% of people share the opinion that the diversity of national and cultural origins is an enrichment for the culture of our country. The share of people who consider diversity to be a plus for our country is significantly higher in the population with a migration background (80% across all the generations). Among persons without a migration background, the figure is 71%.

The share of people opposed to this statement, who rather or completely disagree with it, is 19% of the total population. Here too there is a clear difference between persons with a migration background and those without. The percentage of persons who disagree with the statement is equal to 11% among the former regardless of their generation, and around 24% among the latter.

Only a small percentage of the population expressed no opinion. This share is considerably greater in the population with a migration background than in the population without a migration background (8% compared with 5%).

Among the population without a migration background, the share of people who believe that the diversity of national and cultural origins enriches the culture of Switzerland increased by four percentage points (from 67% to 71%) between 2014 and 2019.

In the Lake Geneva region, the share of people who agree with this statement dominates and is always higher among the population with a migration background.