In 2023, Switzerland’s population could increase by 148,000, the most it has ever risen in one year, according to a report by Wüest Partner, a real estate consulting firm.
According to calculations by the consulting firm, Switzerland could break a population growth record in 2023 with a population increase of 148,000 people.
The projected rise is double the increase in 2022. The federal government’s longterm projections predict 2023 will be similar to 2022. However, the government’s figure does not include the effects of unforeseen events, which include the war in Ukraine and the Covid pandemic.
In 2010, statisticians at the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) predicted Switzerland’s population would reach 8.9 million by 2055. However, when the Wüest Partner forecast of 148,000 additional residents is added to the latest 2022 population figure of 8,815,000 it takes Switzerland’s population to 8,963,000. By 2023, Switzerland’s population could be where FSO statisticians in 2010 thought it would be in 2055.
The 148,000 new residents can be broken down into natural population growth (8,000), new workers (91,000), and refugees (48,000), mainly from Ukraine. Many of those who have arrived from Ukraine are expected to eventually return to Ukraine so their effect on population growth could be temporary.
Most of the growth is expected in regions where there is the most work, which is concentrated in Switzerland’s large cities. Ticino is the only major region where the population might decline as Italian citizens living there increasingly returning to Italy.
A big challenge for Switzerland will be housing new arrivals. Housing vacancy rates published last September show how tight Switzerland’s housing is. The main cities had rates around 1%. Geneva had a rate of only 0.38%.
More on this:
Wüest Partner report (in German)
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