Integration

Measuring integration in Switzerland

Swiss legislation states that integration must enable foreign nationals staying in Switzerland legally and for an extended length of stay to participate in the country's economic, social and cultural life. Integration is a slow process requiring input from both the migrants (at the individual level) and the host society, aiming to create equal opportunities for Swiss and foreign nationals within the Swiss society.

The completion of the integration process can be measured by comparing statistics relating to foreign nationals in terms of the opportunities for access to various areas of life in our society with those relating to Swiss nationals in a similar socio-economic and family situation. The acquisition of a Swiss passport, however, is not enough to guarantee equal opportunities. A Eurostat report (1998) stated that "since the end of the Second World War, the presence of migrant populations in Europe has grown and become so diversified that the criteria of nationality alone is no longer sufficient to fully analyse the phenomenon of immigration. […] the legal criteria of nationality no longer coincides with the reality of the population introduced by immigration". This is why the concept of "population with a migration background", adapted to each country's cultural and historical context, is preferred. It is tending to replace the simplistic distinction between "nationals" and "foreigners" and is no longer based solely on the principle of citizenship but takes into consideration individuals' migration experience.

As in many other countries and following the UN recommendations (page 136), the FSO has drawn up a population typology by migration status for Switzerland. This typology is based on the individuals' nationality at birth and their place of birth as well as the place of birth of both parents. In Switzerland the population with a migration background represents 36% of the permanent resident population aged 15 or over. Whether born or living in the country for a long or short time, this heterogeneous population does not have the same needs in terms of integration.

Integration of the population with a migration background

When a person acquires Swiss nationality they are granted complete political and legal rights. However, although naturalised persons born in Switzerland or abroad may have officially concluded a successful process of integration, it remains to be seen whether they receive the same treatment as other Swiss citizens. As far as foreigners are concerned, this postulate suggests that they continue to be considered as still in a process that has not quite been completed, regardless of the immigration generation to which they belong.

This means that the population whose integration we wish to measure is slightly different to the population with a migration background (as defined in the typology) and for this reason, the category of 3rd or higher generation "foreign nationals" has been included.

Adapted migration status for measuring integration

The slightly modified population with a migration background includes all foreign nationals (regardless of generation status), naturalised Swiss citizens of the first generation, naturalised Swiss citizens of the second generation with at least one parent born in Switzerland and Swiss nationals at birth with parents both born abroad.

The population without a migration background can be used as a reference population for the subject of integration. It includes Swiss nationals at birth who have at least one parent born in Switzerland as well as naturalised Swiss citizens born in Switzerland and both of whose parents were born in Switzerland. This population or the total population can be used to compare statistics relating to the target population whose integration is being measured in order to assess the equality of opportunities obtained in each are of life in society.

Adapted immigration status for measuring integration

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	o	o	II
	Swiss by naturalization	o	II	II
	Foreign national	II	II	II
Foreign national	Swiss at birth	o	o	I
	Swiss by naturalization	I	I	I
	Foreign national	I	I	I

I Population with a migration background, 1st generation
II Population with a migration background, 2nd generation
o Population without a migration background
The cell in bold characters corresponds to the adaptation of the typology of the migration status for the measure of integration. © FSO, Neuchâtel 2016

Permanent resident population aged 15 and over by adapted migration status, 2017

	In thousand	In %
Total	7116	100.0
Population without a migration background	4396	61.8
Population with a migration background1	2652	37.3
1st generation	2134	30.0
2nd generation or more	519	7.3
Population for whom some relevant data is unavailable	67	0.9

1) Including foreign nationals of the 3rd or higher generation Sources: FSO, Swiss Labour Force Survey (SLFS)

Two other population typologies

The immigration status of the permanent resident population cannot be deduced from all the statistical sources used to measure integration; this is so because they do not all provide the necessary variables. Therefore, the information about the mixed nationality (if the variable is available) and the individual's place of birth is used instead.

Click here for figures on the permanent resident population by place of birth and nationality combined. 

Click here to see detailed data on the permanent resident population by nationality.