In 2019, the Federal Statistical Office assumed responsibility for the production of the Statistics on the Swiss Abroad, which had until then been compiled by the FDFA. The statistics are available on the webpages of the FSO and can be accessed easily and individually via an interactive table.
Around 11% of the Swiss population lives abroad. Of the 788, 000 Swiss nationals who were residing abroad at the end of 2021, more than 64% were living in Europe.
Across all continents, 21.1% of Swiss abroad were under 18 years of age, 56.4% are aged 18 to 64 and 22.5% are 65 years or older. Compared with 2020, their number rose in all age groups by +1.4%, +1.1% and +2.7% respectively. As was the case in 2020, this increase was most pronounced in the over-64s.
France has the largest Swiss expatriate community in Europe, followed by Germany and Italy.
Three-quarters of Swiss citizens abroad, i.e. 590 500, had at least one other nationality. The highest percentage of Swiss citizens with more than one nationality was found on the American continent (80.0%). In over half of the American countries in which they lived, the percentage was 75% or more. The highest percentages were seen in South America, particularly in Chile and Argentina, where they were 91.3% and 94.2% respectively. The lowest percentage of Swiss citizens abroad with more than one nationality was found in Asia (63.1%). Since 2017, the number of Swiss citizens with more than one nationality rose by 5.3% across the continents. In fact, growth was positive in Asia (+6.7%), in Europe (+6.5%), in Oceania (+4.8%) and in the Americas (+2.9%). In the same period, however, the number of Swiss citizens with more than one nationality fell by 2.8% in Africa.
The Federal Statistical Office website provides further information, graphics and an interactive table:
Swiss abroad in 2021 (Publication, Federal Statistical Office)
Last update 25.08.2022
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