Nine million in Switzerland? ‘Not quite yet!’ say authorities

Switzerland has reportedly hit a historic population milestone: nine million people now live in the small Alpine country. But how accurate is this figure? Where did it come from? And what does it mean? On Wednesday the media in Switzerland reported a milestone: nine million residents in Switzerland. However, upon closer inspection this number tells a more complex story. The Federal Statistical Office (FSO) reported a permanent resident population of 8.9 million for the second quarter of 2023. “We make a distinction between the permanent residents and non-permanent residents. It was the media that combined these two figures to reach the nine million number,” said Klaus von Muralt, FSO spokesperson. The non-permanent residents in Switzerland are currently calculated at around 104,000. How big is this milestone, really? While the FSO makes a distinction between permanent and non-permanent residents, nine million people are currently recorded as living in the country. Over the...