Emigration hits highest rate since 1990s The number of people – Swiss and foreign nationals – departing Switzerland for ‘greener pastures’ has increased to levels not seen for 20 years, figures show. But the country still remains attractive to immigrants. In total the population of Switzerland grew by 1.1% on 2011 to 8.04 million, according to a recent statement by the Federal Statistics Office. The population first reached the eight million mark in the summer of 2012 and almost 40,000 additional people came in the months until the year’s end, according to the office’s definitive population statistics for 2012. Since 2009 the annual population rise has been hovering at around 1%. Nevertheless, migration still plays ‘the main role’ in the growth of the resident population, the office said. Four fifths of people arriving in Switzerland came from Europe and there was a marked increase in immigrants to Switzerland from the south of the continent in particular, with economic crisis-hit countries such as Greece (up by 44.8%), Spain (up by 36.2% and Italy (up by 28.1%) posting the biggest rise. Bye bye Switzerland The number of people leaving Switzerland, however, grew by 7.7% in 2012, to 103,900 people (compared with 96,500 in 2011). According to observers, this is the highest rate since the early 1990s when 117,000 people left the country due to the economic crisis. The 2012 rate was up 0.9% among the Swiss and up 10.7% among foreigners. The favoured destinations for the Swiss leaving were France, Germany and the United States. Among the foreigners, emigration in 2012 compared with 2011 rose the most among the Poles (42%), Montenegrins (35%) and the Portuguese (9.1%). The Germans – whose large immigration to Switzerland has caused much debate in the German-speaking part of the country, particularly over cultural misunderstandings – came in fourth at 8.8%. swissinfo.ch
Close trust-based relations between Switzerland and Australia: Swiss nationals obtain facilitated entry On the last stage of his trip to the Asia-Pacific region, Federal Councillor Didier Burkhalter met with Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop on Monday, 28 October. The head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) is the first foreign minister Ms Bishop has received since she assumed office. Ms Bishop announced that Switzerland is to be included in Australia’s automated border processing system ‘SmartGate’, thus facilitating Swiss nationals’ entry into Australia. Switzerland is the first non-English-speaking country to benefit from this facilitated entry system. The two ministers also signed two agreements, one to establish regular ministerial-level political dialogue and the other to strengthen cooperation on research and innovation.
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