SWITZERLAND
Population

Cities in SWITZERLAND

Bern

Zurich

Population

Well-known Swiss_{Photo: MadGeographer CC 3.0 Unported no changes made}

Switzerland has 8.9 million inhabitants in 2024, many of whom are Swiss citizens. The rest are foreigners, mainly employees from Italy, Spain, Croatia, Bosnia, Germany and Turkey. They often work on a contract basis in Switzerland. In 2024, the number of foreigners was nearly 2.5 million. Foreigners have always been of great importance to the Swiss economy and contributed to the rapid rise of Switzerland's prosperity after World War II. Many intellectuals and refugees also came to the always neutral Switzerland. A referendum recently decided to limit the number of foreigners.

An average of 225 inhabitants live per km2. In the Alps this is 30 per km2 and on the Swiss Plateau more than 250 per km2. About 74% of the population lives in urban areas. These large differences are of course a result of the landscape of Switzerland.

The largest cities are Zurich (1.4 million inhabitants), Basel, Geneva, the capital Bern, Lausanne and Winterthur.

The average life expectancy is 83.9 years, men 82 and women 85.8 years. (2024)

---

Sources

Dominicus, J. / Zwitserland
Gottmer

Lamme, M. / Zwitserland
Kosmos-Z&K

Lannoo’s autoboek Zwitserland
Lannoo

Mandos, M. / West- en Midden-Zwitserland
ANWB

CIA - World Factbook

BBC - Country Profiles

Last updated April 2025
Copyright: Team The World of Info