Most Swiss are willing to support an initiative to cap the country’s population at 10 million by 2050, a move that could impact Switzerland’s immigration policy, labor market, and real estate market, according to local media reports.
According to a poll conducted six weeks before the nationwide referendum scheduled for June 14, 2026, 52% of respondents supported the initiative or were inclined to support it, 46% opposed it, and another 2% were undecided. Over 16,000 people participated in the survey.
The “No to 10 Million in Switzerland!” initiative is being promoted by the Swiss People’s Party (SVP). It stipulates that the country’s permanent population should not exceed 10 million people by 2050. Upon reaching an interim threshold of 9.5 million people, the government would be required to implement additional measures to limit immigration, including potentially tightening quotas on work visas and asylum applications. Reuters notes that the proposal also calls for Switzerland to withdraw from the EU agreement on the free movement of citizens.
Supporters of the initiative link the need to limit population growth to the strain on infrastructure, housing shortages, overcrowded public transportation, and rising costs for social and medical services.
The Federal Council and both chambers of parliament recommend rejecting the initiative. Authorities warn that strict restrictions on migration could create legal uncertainty, complicate relations with the European Union, and exacerbate the labor shortage in the economy. Reuters also notes that Switzerland’s population already exceeds 9 million, and the share of foreigners stood at over 27% in 2024.
For the real estate market, the possible adoption of the initiative could have a dual effect. On the one hand, limiting population growth could theoretically reduce long-term pressure on housing demand. On the other hand, stricter immigration rules and a potential reevaluation of relations with the EU could affect Switzerland’s investment appeal, the availability of labor in the construction and service sectors, as well as demand from foreign residents.
According to data from the Swiss State Secretariat for Migration, as of the end of 2024, the largest groups of the country’s permanent foreign population were citizens of Italy—346,981 thousand people, Germany—332,132 thousand, Portugal—263,028, and France—173,353. In total, 1.579 million citizens of EU/EFTA countries and 789,735 citizens of third countries resided permanently in Switzerland.
Ukrainians occupy a distinct place in Switzerland’s migration statistics following the outbreak of full-scale war. According to SEM data, in 2024 the number of individuals with active S protection status rose to 68,070 compared to 66,083 the previous year. This figure can be used as a rough estimate of the number of Ukrainian refugees in the country, although the actual number of Ukrainians in Switzerland may differ due to people holding other types of residence permits.
Most Ukrainians believe that the country is headed in the wrong direction, the Rating sociological group said in a statement on Tuesday.
“A third of the respondents, or 34%, said that the country is headed in the right direction, while 58% said it’s the wrong direction, and 8% are undecided,” the group said in its report.
The majority of respondents who believe that Ukraine is on the right track are young and live in western and central parts of the country.
The group polled 2,500 respondents aged 18 and up using computer assisted telephone interviews (CATI) on September 2-4, 2021.
Some 68% of Ukrainian citizens believe that the direction of events in the country is wrong, according to the results of a sociological survey conducted by the Ukrainian Institute for the Future (UIF) with the assistance of New Image Marketing Group from April 9 to April 18 and presented at Interfax-Ukraine on Monday.
According to the survey, only 17% of respondents say that Ukraine moves in the right direction, and another 15% cannot decide.
One of the most pressing problems in Ukraine, 40% of those polled called the war in Donbas, 36% linked the problems with low wages and pensions, 31% with corruption, 29% with high utility rates, and 27% with a pandemic.
At the same time, it is noted that in March it was the problem of the war in Donbas that ranked first in the anti-rating.
Some 56% of citizens are sure that their rights and freedoms are not violated, and 44% noted that such violations are present.
In case of violation of their rights, citizens would choose mostly peaceful and non-violent methods to protect their rights and freedoms. First of all, this is the collection of signatures (26%), sanctioned rallies and actions (22%), and electronic petitions (16%). Road closures (15%) are the single most popular protest methods that go beyond the sanctioned limits. In general, radical actions gain no more than 5-6% and lag significantly behind moderate measures.
The number of citizens who are not ready to defend their rights has remained almost unchanged since March (41%).
The sociological survey was conducted by the “face-to-face” method using a structured interactive questionnaire. Audience included the population of Ukraine aged 18 and over in all regions, except for the temporarily occupied territories of Crimea and Donbas. The sample was 2,400 respondents.
The error of the representativeness of the survey with a confidence level of 0.95 does not exceed 2.05%.
19% of Ukrainians believe that in general, things in Ukraine are going in the right direction, and 68% have the opposite opinion, according to the results of a survey conducted by Rating Sociological Group on July 15-20, 2020.
More than 60% of respondents believe that the economic situation in Ukraine has deteriorated over the past six months, a quarter believe that it has not changed, and only 8% of respondents noted an improvement.
At the same time, sentiments about the future are more optimistic: 17% believe that the economic situation in Ukraine will improve in the next six months, 35% believe that it will not change, and 40% expect it to worsen. However, in the long-term dynamics, the percentage of those who expect improvement decreases, along with this, the feeling of hope (26%) among the population slightly decreases, and disappointment remains the emotion that is experienced the most (43%).
Some 57% of respondents see the reason for possible economic crisis in the incompetence of the authorities, although 26% believe that the economic decline will come due to the coronavirus pandemic, and 8% believe that the war in Donbas will be the cause of decline. In the course of the survey, which took place in June, a month earlier, such answers were given by 53%, 32% and 6% of respondents, respectively.
In the course of the study, 2000 respondents aged 18 and over were interviewed by the method of personal formalized interview (face-to-face) in all regions, except for Russia-occupied Crimea and Donbas. The sample is representative by age, sex and type of locality. The margin of error does not exceed 2.2%.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has reported that he urged the large business to help the country, which “has been feeding it for many years” with finances, namely a separate fund will be set up for purchase of medicine and other necessary means during coronavirus spreading.
“We urgently need 50 ambulances. This is the amount that is not enough for our hospitals. We talked about certain means … Honestly, I spoke frankly with them that this country has been feeding them for many years – it’s time you (large businessmen) to help the country,” he said on the air of the Freedom of Speech program on ICTV.
Zelensky said that a separate fund was setting up “and UAH 12-13 billion is needed from businessmen for medicine.”
First Deputy Prime Minister and Economic Development and Trade Minister Stepan Kubiv at the annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) has called the bank to increase financing of projects in Ukraine commensurate with the country’s contribution in the bank’s share capital, the Economic Development and Trade Ministry has reported on its website.
“It is important that the Board of Governors expands the activities of the bank and in 2018 approved 28 new projects worth EUR 569.7 million. At the same time, it is important that the active portfolio in Ukraine corresponds to the level of our contribution to the share capital of the bank, that is, 13.5% rather than 6% as we see today,” the ministry’s press service said, citing Kubiv speakingh in Istanbul (Turkey).
He also proposed holding the 22nd annual meeting of the BSTDB in Ukraine in 2020.
The Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) is an international financial institution established in 1998 by Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine. BSTDB supports economic development and regional cooperation by providing loans, credit lines, equity and guarantees for projects and trade financing in the public and private sectors in its member countries.
