Swiss voters rejected this Saturday (13) a proposal that would force the country to limit its population to 10 million inhabitants. According to BBCaround 55% of voters were against the measure, while 45% supported the initiative. Participation was around 60%.
The popular consultation was promoted by the Swiss People’s Party (SVP), the country’s main nationalist right-wing party. The group argued that population growth has increased pressure on housing, infrastructure, transport and environmental resources.
With the defeat of the proposal, the current rules on immigration, residence and movement of people remain unchanged.
The text envisaged a series of measures to contain demographic growth over the coming decades. These included stricter rules for family reunification, granting residence permits and asylum applications.
The project also established that the government should act to prevent the population from exceeding the 10 million inhabitants mark before 2050.
One of the most relevant consequences involved Switzerland’s relationship with the European Union. If the limit were reached, the country would be forced to abandon the free movement of people agreement with the European bloc.
In practice, this would put at risk the current Swiss access to the European single market, considered strategic for the local economy.
Proponents of the proposal argued that immigration has been the main factor behind the country’s population growth. Currently, Switzerland has around 9.1 million inhabitants. Official data shows that 27% of the resident population does not have Swiss citizenship.
Most foreigners come from Europe. In 2024, Italians formed the largest group of foreign residents, followed by Germans and Portuguese. Immigrants from Asia represented 9% of resident foreigners, while Africans corresponded to 5% and people from the Americas, 4%.
Continues after advertising
The defeat represents a setback for the Swiss People’s Party, which had been presenting population limitation as a way of preserving the capacity of public services and reducing pressure on housing, transport and the environment.
For opponents of the measure, however, the proposal created economic and diplomatic risks by linking population growth to the maintenance of free movement agreements with the European Union.
