Communiqué de presse

Population censuses in Switzerland before 1850 Population figures from before 1850 available for the first time at the local level

16.06.2023 - This publication from the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) provides an overview of all population censuses in Switzerland from the period before the first federal census of 1850. It includes the Helvetic Republic population census of 1798/99 at commune level and also all spatially complete surveys during the Ancien Régime and the first half of the 19th century. The author of the work, Martin Schuler, researched in all of Switzerland's cantonal and episcopal archives as well as in some neighbouring territories.

Population data from parishes and communes form the centrepiece of the publication. Newly developed maps visualise the territorial structures down to the local level for the end of the Ancien Regime, during the Helvetic Republic and for the period after 1803/15. A chapter is devoted to each canton. The publication also deals with the territories that belonged to the Old Swiss Confederacy until 1789. The chapters consist of a brief historical outline of how the territory developed, an analysis of the population surveys and population trends. Tables with population figures from all of the surveys covered are also included.

The publication also has a historical introduction on the development of Switzerland's territory as a whole, and provides a definition of the different types of population surveys as well as a description of their respective quality and political context. The Helvetic Republic population census of 1798/99 and the population census of the Swiss Diet of 1837/38 are described and documented across the whole of Switzerland. The cantonal surveys vary widely, ranging from annual surveys in Neuchâtel to a complete lack of data from non-church related surveys in other cantons.

You can find further information in the press releases in German, French and Italian. The English version only contains the lead of the press release.