This indicator provides information on people's skills in Switzerland's national languages. It reveals the percentage of people who indicated a national language as one of their main languages.
From an integration perspective, an increase in the share of people indicating a national language as a main language means the situation has improved.
The share of the population without a migration background that has a national language as (one of) their main language(s) is close to 100%. In the population with a migration background, this figure is around 70%. While the percentage of the second or subsequent generations is close to that of the population without a migration background, in the first generation it is closer to the population with a migration background.
Since 2010, the share of people indicating a national language as (one of) their main language(s) has remained stable in the population without a migration background, but has decreased in the population with a migration background. This decrease is mainly due to a decline in the share of people indicating a national language as (one of) their main language(s) among the first generation.
In all the cantons, the percentage of people indicating a national language as their main language(s) is higher in the population without a migration background than the population with such a background.
Main language: this variable is based on the following question from the structural survey: "What is your main language, i.e. the language you think in and know best)?". Possible answers are: German (or Swiss German), French (or Swiss French patois), Italian (or Ticino or Grisons Italian dialect), Rhaeto-Romansh, Serbian or Croatian, Albanian, Portuguese, Spanish, English, other language(s). Respondents may indicate several languages; up to three languages can be taken into account.
This indicator gives the proportion of the permanent resident population aged 15 and over that has at least one national language (German, French, Italian or Romansh) as main language.
