Almost 2 million foreigners live in the small territory of Switzerland today, including people from the post-Soviet space.
According to the Federal Statistical Office (OFS), by the end of 2015, 1,363,736 citizens of European states (specifically, member states of the European Union or the European Free Trade Association, which today includes Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein besides Switzerland) and 630,180 people from other states (referred to in such statistics as "third countries") were permanently residing in the Confederation.
Thus, notes NashaGazeta.ch, the exact number of foreigners permanently residing in Switzerland has not yet reached a round figure and stands at 1,993,916 people. At the same time, the migration flow, which had been increasing every year, suddenly weakened: in 2015, 150,500 foreigners immigrated to Switzerland, which is 1.1% less than the year before. Meanwhile, 73,400 people emigrated from the country, which is 6.1% more than in 2014. As a result, net migration decreased to 71,500 people (–9.4% compared to the previous year), although the net migration rate remains positive.
The main reason for moving to Switzerland remains income-generating activity – this motive accounts for 47% of permits issued. Following labor migrants are foreigners obtaining residence permits for family reunification (31% of permits), and this category also includes Swiss citizens who once left the country and changed their passport.
Which countries' citizens go to live permanently in a small country in the center of Europe? In 2015, the largest group of foreigners in Switzerland were Italians (313,700 people). They are followed by Germans (301,500 people) and Portuguese (268,000 people), who suddenly overtook their French neighbors, who ended up in fourth place (123,000 people).
The top five most notable groups of foreigners living in Switzerland also include people from Kosovo (110,200 people). They are followed by Turks (68,500 people), Serbs (65,300 people), and people from the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (64,300 people). Rounding out the top ten are citizens of neighboring Austria and more distant Great Britain (41,300 people each). For comparison, among overseas countries, Brazil leads (19,500 people), followed by the United States (17,500 people) and Eritrea (16,600 people), from which many refugees arrive in Switzerland.
It should be noted that the assessment of the number of permanently residing foreigners in Switzerland took into account holders of residence permits of categories "C", "B", and "L", i.e., both permanent and temporary documents valid for at least one year. However, some other types of permits were not included in this sample, so the actual number of people from a particular country may vary significantly.
As for people from post-Soviet countries, the largest group is made up of Russian citizens, of whom 13,700 live in Switzerland, according to OFS. They are followed by Ukrainians (6,200), Latvians (2,000), Lithuanians (1,800), and Belarusians (1,000). Slightly fewer citizens of Kazakhstan (871), Estonia (727), Moldova (635), Azerbaijan (493), Armenia (451), Uzbekistan (435), Georgia (416), Kyrgyzstan (204), Turkmenistan (45), and Tajikistan (43) were found in Switzerland.
We should add that the hardest to meet in Switzerland are citizens of the Solomon Islands and Kiribati living here, who are, according to OFS, the only representatives of these countries in the Confederation.