The Longitudinal demographic statistics (DVS) are longitudinal statistics based on the population data from STATPOP. They start on 31.12.2010 and comprise all people in the permanent and non-permanent resident population who have appeared at least once in STATPOP’s inventory or demographic movements. The DVS end with the latest available STATPOP data and are thus completed and fully updated every year. For this reason, it should be noted that numbers from the DVS may vary from those of STATPOP. For the annual population numbers of the permanent and non-permanent resident population, the annually published results of STATPOP are final. Explanations for the DVS methodology can be found in the document «Produktionsregeln und Ergebnisse» (in German and French).
The different permissions to stay and permits are governed by the Foreign Nationals and Integration Act (FNA) and the Asylum Act (AsylA) and are issued by authorities at federal, cantonal, and communal level.
Permit |
Name |
Brief description |
N |
Right to stay for asylum seekers |
Received by asylum seekers for duration of asylum process. |
Right to stay for persons in need of protection |
Received by persons who, due to a dangerous situation in their country of origin, are seeking protection in Switzerland (validity: 12 months, renewable). |
|
F |
Provisional admission |
Received by persons who have been ordered to leave in the context of the asylum or foreign nationals procedure but who are nevertheless unable to return to the country of origin (validity: 12 months, renewable). |
L |
Short-term residence permit |
Received by people who stay in Switzerland for a short time (usually up to 12 months), with or without gainful employment, for a specific purpose. |
B |
Residence permit |
Received by person who stay in Switzerland for a specific purpose, with or without gainful employment, for at least 12 months, or who are recognised as refugees (validity: 1-5 years). |
C |
Settlement permit |
Received by persons who have been living in Switzerland for more than 5 years (citizens of EU-EFTA states) or more than 10 years (citizens of non-EU/EFTA states) (validity: indefinite). |
In 2011, about 200,000 foreign nationals immigrated to Switzerland. By the end of 2022, 57% of them had left Switzerland. The majority of foreign nationals who immigrated in 2011 received a residence permit (B permit) on arrival. In addition to re-emigration, the graphic shows the change in status of the different groups in the 2011 immigration cohort in the following years. Among all foreign nationals who received a B permit, by the end of 2022, 38% had received a settlement permit (C permit), whereas 6% were naturalised. Among people who received a N, F or L permit on arrival, the share who had re-emigrated by 2022 was particularly high. However, more than one quarter (27%) of those who received a N or F permit in 2011 had obtained a B permit by 2022.
Of the foreign nationals who immigrated in 2011, 34% remained continuously in Switzerland until 2022 (no migration movements between the two points in time). The majority (77%) of these continuously remaining people received a residence permit (B permit), 14% a short-term residence permit (permit L) and 6% a permit F or N upon arrival. The following graphic shows the change in these percentages during the observation period. Between 2011 and 2022, the share of people with a settlement permit (C permit), for example, rose from 2% to 70% and that of people with a permit N, S or F fell from 6% to 1%. The shares and how they evolve over time depend on the nationality of the migrants.
In 2011, 72,000 people with L permit and 614,000 with B permit were living in Switzerland. The following graphics show how people who held a L or B permit in 2011, by 2022 had gradually received other permissions to stay or left the country. The fact that some of them were naturalised during this period was because they had already been living in Switzerland for some time before the start of the observation period (2011).
Primarily, the Population trend statistics provide individual data enabling longitudinal indicators in the area of population to be calculated and updated. Biography and cohort analyses are thus made possible without prior preparation of the annually available data from STATPOP.
Ordering data
The Population trend statistics are updated every year. Please send
the order form to: info.dem@bfs.admin.ch.
Further findings from the population trend statistics on the subject of migration can be found on the following pages: Migration
trajectories
Further information
Statistical sources and concepts
Contact
Federal Statistical Office Section Demography and MigrationEspace de l'Europe 10
CH-2010 Neuchâtel
Switzerland