26% A country with a large foreign population In 2022, 26% of Switzerland’s permanent residents did not hold a Swiss passport. But almost one fifth of these foreign residents were born in Switzerland. In the same year, 40% of the permanent resident population aged 15 or over comprised people with a migratory background. Granted, this does include something unique in Europe – apart from Luxembourg and its 47% of foreign nationals – the contribution of cross-border workers, which has increased spectacularly in some regions. One example is the number of French cross-border workers, which increased from fewer than 80,000 persons before 2005 to almost 220,000 in 2022. Net migration peaked in 1961 at over 100,000 persons. The figure for 2021 was 61,500 persons. This transition has been ongoing since 1999, when international migration became the main demographic growth driver, conclusively overtaking natural growth. Moreover, in 2020 61,000 Swiss babies were born in Switzerland as against 24,900 non-Swiss births. The biggest foreign communities are from Italy, Germany and Portugal. This is reflected in the languages spoken, as the proportion of persons speaking Italian (23%) is the same as that of people speaking languages other than the four national ones. As regards asylum, there were 24,511 asylum applications in 2022, which is close to what the average has been for the past 25 years (22,500 applicants). These asylum seekers are mainly from Afghanistan, Turkey, Eritrea and Syria. In addition to this total, there are about 66,000 Ukrainian refugees who had protected status with S permits at the end of 2023. 6.6 million A highly motorised country Life expectancy is a sign of a rich country. So is mobility. The Swiss move around a lot. In 2021, they covered an average of 30 km per person daily within the country. Most of the daily distances covered within the country – 69% in 2021 – are by car. Leisure pursuits are the main reason for mobility, accounting for 43% of kilometres travelled. Next comes work (28%). In 2022, Switzerland had almost 6.6 million registered motorised vehicles, 4.7 million of which were passenger cars and 800,000 motorcycles. Since 1980, the number of passenger cars has more than doubled and there are almost six times as many motorcycles. Road transport costs amount to 76.8 billion Swiss francs in total, considerably more than rail transport costs (12.1 billion). In 2022, there were 18,396 accidents on Swiss roads: 241 people lost their lives, 4,002 were severely injured and 17,896 slightly hurt. Motorised transport is largely powered by fossil fuel (93% in 2022). In 2021, motorised transport accounted for 38% of CO2 emissions in Switzerland (excluding international aviation). “Much like a compass, the Swiss Statistical Yearbook can help guide you on a journey of discovery through Switzerland.” That is how the director general of the Federal Statistical Office, Georges-Simon Ulrich, describes the latest edition of this statistics bible. The yearbook is 412 pages long and covers a whole raft of subjects. We cover three of the main ones here, which relate to demography, immigration and mobility and include a detailed section on CO2 emissions. In German: Die Schweiz in Zahlen - Statistisches Jahrbuch 2022/2023; date of publication 30 November 2023, ISBN 978-3-303-00720-4, 412 pages, CHF 90 Swiss Review / March 2024 / No.2 19
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjYwNzMx