Swiss voters weigh constitutional cap on population growth to 10 million

Swiss citizens will vote on Sunday on a referendum that would require the country to keep its population below 10 million by 2050. The proposal comes after Switzerland’s population grew 10% over the past decade and reached about 9.1 million at the end of 2025, while for the first time the country had more people over 65 than under 20, according to CNBC. Net migration and the birth rate both declined last year.

The initiative was launched by the right-wing Swiss People’s Party, or SVP. If approved, it would take effect within five years, by which time Switzerland is expected to have around 9.5 million residents. Recent polling shows 52% of voters oppose the measure and 45% support it.

Switzerland’s low taxes have helped attract global companies such as Nestle and Novartis, and the country has one of the world’s highest concentrations of billionaires and a high GDP per capita. CNBC said that by the end of 2024, 41% of residents had a migration background, meaning migrants and their Swiss-born children, while 32.5% of permanent residents were first-generation immigrants. Around 1.4 million EU citizens live in Switzerland, about 16% of the population, and another 240,000 cross the border daily to work there.

Under the proposal, immigration rules would be tightened if the population exceeds 9.5 million at any point over the next 24 years, with refugee intake and family reunification programs among the first to be cut. Switzerland would also have to withdraw from agreements with EU states that allow foreigners to work and settle in the country, as well as from free-movement arrangements with neighboring states. The SVP said last week the plan would still allow 40,000 people to move to Switzerland each year, arguing population growth is driving problems in public services, labor markets, education and housing. Business groups counter that major immigration limits would hurt Switzerland’s competitiveness and weigh on an economy already facing slow growth.