Switzerland is attracting fewer immigrants-and losing more of those already here

Almost 40,000 foreign permanent residents left Switzerland in the first half of 2026, 4.3% more than in the same period last year. According to the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM), this is part of a broader trend: emigration by foreign residents has been rising since 2023. At the same time, immigration is slowing. In the first six months of 2026, 74,112 foreigners joined Switzerland’s permanent resident population, 2.9% fewer than a year earlier. Net immigration fell by 12.5%, to 29,884. At the end of June, Switzerland was home to 2.43m permanent foreign residents, more than a quarter of the population….