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Swiss expat population continues to expand

The Local
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Swiss expat population continues to expand

The number of Swiss citizens livening outside Switzerland rose two percent in 2014 from the previous year to almost three-quarters of a million, government figures released on Thursday show.

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An extra 14,276 Swiss chose to live abroad bringing the total to 746,885, the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs said.

The figures include all Swiss nationals registered at an embassy or consulate general.

Not surprisingly, a high proportion of the newly expatriated citizens are living in neighbouring European countries, where many Swiss choose to live because of lower living costs while continuing to work in Switzerland.

France saw an increase in its Swiss population of 3,112 to 194,474 last year, while the number of Swiss in Germany rose by 2,045 to 84,671.

The total living in Italy increased by 637 to 51,353.

Last year, six out of ten Swiss nationals abroad were living in the European Union, with about three-quarters of them in countries that share borders with Switzerland — France, Germany, Italy and Austria.

The largest expat Swiss community outside Europe is in the US, where 78,696 residents (up by 1,176) hold passports from Switzerland, followed by Canada (39,618, up 365), Australia (24,584, up 577) and Israel (17,958, up 1,045).

For a look at the complete statistics (in German only) check here.
 

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