Persons aged 15 and over with dual citizenship represented 19% of Switzerland's permanent resident population (1 056 700 people) in 2021. Among the population of dual nationals, 65% obtained Swiss nationality through naturalisation, whereas 35% acquired it at birth.
Second nationality
Types of acquisition of Swiss nationality
Canton
An analysis by individual nationality shows that the most frequent second nationality among dual nationals is Italian (23%), followed by French (11%) and German (9%).
Among the ten most represented groups of dual nationals, the share of persons who obtained Swiss citizenship by naturalisation is almost always higher than the share who obtained it at birth. This is particularly true for people with Kosovan or Bosnian second nationality. Within these groups, more than 90% of persons obtained Swiss citizenship through naturalisation. The percentage of individuals who obtained Swiss citizenship by naturalisation or at birth is closer among individuals with a second Italian, French or British citizenship (difference of less than 20 percentage points). Only dual French-Swiss nationals acquire Swiss citizenship at birth more often than by naturalisation (57% and 43% respectively).
The population with dual citizenship is not evenly distributed between the cantons. At national level, 19% of the permanent resident population aged 15 or has a second nationality (in addition to Swiss nationality). This percentage is higher than 20% in the cantons of Zurich, Basel-Stadt, Ticino, Vaud, Neuchâtel and in Geneva it is 48%. The cantons with the smallest proportion of dual nationals are Uri, Schwyz, Obwald, Nidwald, Appenzell Innerrhoden where it does not exceed 10%.
Definitions
The term dual citizenship generally refers to having at least two different nationalities. In this analysis, however, only persons who hold a foreign nationality in addition to their Swiss nationality are considered dual nationals. In official statistics, these people are counted among the Swiss population, whether they are Swiss by birth (born to one Swiss parent and one foreign national parent) or through naturalisation.
Sources
DE: Strukturerhebung
Contact
Federal Statistical Office Section Demography and MigrationEspace de l'Europe 10
CH-2010 Neuchâtel
Switzerland