Where the 800,000 Swiss live abroad – and where 5 countries NO Harvard University removes human skin from the cover of a book

As of December 31, 2023, 813,400 Swiss citizens were registered with a representation abroad, the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) announced on Thursday. By 2022, Switzerland’s population abroad had grown by 1.5 percent.

The expatriate community grew most in Asia at 3.1 percent, followed by Europe (1.9 percent), Oceania (1.2 percent), North America (1 percent) and Latin America and the Caribbean (0.4 percent). per cent). Only in Africa did it fall by 0.2 percent.

The BFS only partly attributes the development to migration movements. Both the difference between births and deaths and naturalizations have contributed to this. Three-quarters of Swiss people abroad have multiple nationalities.

The Swiss abroad will live here in 2023

520,700 of Swiss abroad, or 64 percent, lived in Europe and about a quarter (209,300) in France. This was followed by Germany, Italy, Great Britain and Spain. Compared to 2022, the foreign community grew in these five countries, with the strongest growth in Spain at 2.7 percent.

Relatively few Swiss citizens lived in Portugal (6,900). However, their numbers have increased most in Europe, by 13.9 percent compared to the previous year.

292,700 Swiss lived on other continents. 16 percent of them were located in North America, 7 percent in Latin America and the Caribbean, 7 percent in Asia, 4 in Oceania and 1 percent in Africa.

A tenth of all Swiss abroad lived in the US alone. 58 percent of them were of working age. In Latin America, most Swiss people can be found in Argentina.

The 10 most popular emigrant destinations

In Asia, the largest Swiss diaspora lived in Israel, with 3 percent of all Swiss living abroad. This was followed by Thailand and the Philippines. The share of Swiss citizens under the age of 18 was highest in Israel at 46 percent (total: 21 percent).

In Oceania, the expat community is concentrated in Australia. In Africa, the majority lives in South Africa. The share of people over 65 there is 32 percent, significantly higher than that of all Swiss living abroad (23 percent).

The share of retirees was even higher in Thailand (41 percent) and Portugal (34 percent). Spain tied with 32 percent. Thailand recorded a growth of 8.2 percent. Among all Swiss citizens living abroad, the male-to-female ratio was 86 out of 100.

The 10 most popular emigrant destinations:

Change to 2022

In the countries with the largest percentage increases in the number of Swiss living abroad, such as Yemen, Guinea-Bissau or Djibouti, the absolute figures are low, and therefore even small changes are more important.

That's why it's important to always compare the absolute numbers with this map:

A maximum of 10 Swiss live abroad here

There are a maximum of ten Swiss people living in 14 countries. In 2022 there were still 15 countries. More than ten people are new to Guyana, Afghanistan and Suriname. New in this group are: the Central African Republic and Palau.

Not a single Swiss person lives abroad here

There are only five independent countries in the entire world where not a single Swiss citizen is registered abroad. These are Turkmenistan, North Korea, Nauru, Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands. Palau was there last year.

North Korea

In 2022, for the first time since 1998, no Swiss lived in North Korea. At its peak in 2005, there were nine people with Swiss passports who had settled in the 'Evil Empire'. Due to the corona pandemic, Kim Jong-un closed his country even more than usual, and almost all diplomats and aid organizations withdrew.

Marshall Islands

In 2018, two Swiss citizens still lived on the 181 square kilometer archipelago. From 2019 to 2020 there was only one. In the meantime, no one with a Swiss passport has set up camp there.

Nauru

Like Tuvalu, the Pacific island nation is one of the smallest countries in the world with a population of just under 10,000. There are currently no Swiss there. It is not clear whether anyone with a Swiss passport has ever registered there.

Turkmenistan

In 2010, eight Swiss citizens were still registered abroad in the Central Asian country. This was the temporary highlight. Five years later, exactly one person with a Swiss passport remained in the country permanently, and as of 2016, no Swiss residents officially live in the country of approximately 5.7 million inhabitants.

Tuvalu

The Federal Bureau of Statistics has been keeping track of the Pacific island nation since 1995. At that time there was still one Swiss registered. Since 2002, no consularly registered person with a Swiss passport has lived on the island of just over 10,000 inhabitants.

(with material from sda)