Swiss population tops 8.2 mln in 2014: final statistics

The definitive 2014 figures released by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO) on Tuesday indicate that the number of people living in Switzerland reached 8,237,700 last year.

Representing a 1.2-percent increase compared to 2013, an additional 98,000 people lived on Swiss soil compared to two years ago, with 37,000 new residents accounted for by Swiss nationals.

Statistics show that 187,300 people immigrated to Switzerland last year (a 3.1-percent drop compared to 2013), of which 26,200 were Swiss and 161,100 foreign, while 111,110 decided to leave the country.

FSO reported that Germans (24,700) were the largest group of foreigners to arrive in the confederation, followed by Italians (19,000), Portuguese (15,200), French (14,500) and Spanish (8,100).

With the total number of Swiss nationals reaching 6,239,200 people by the end of 2014, FSO indicated that the number of foreigners living on Swiss soil reached 1,998,500 people last year, representing 24.3 percent of the total number of permanent residents, up from 23.8 in 2013.

Eight of the country's 26 cantons registered a demographic growth above the national average in 2014, with Fribourg recording a 1.9-percent population growth, followed by Geneva and Zug (1.7 percent), Vaud (1.6 percent), Zurich and Valais (1.5 percent), Aargau (1.4 percent) and Thurgau (1.3 percent). Endite