Swiss voters reject population cap

Voters in Switzerland have rejected a proposal to limit the country's population to 10 million people — a measure critics said could have had Brexit-like consequences for the economy and relations with the European Union.

The mountainous country at the heart of Europe is not a member of the EU or the NATO military alliance.

According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, among its 38 member states, only Luxembourg and Australia have a higher foreign-born population percentage than Switzerland, which in 2024 had 32 percent foreign-born residents, who came mainly from other European countries.

The right-wing Swiss People's Party, or SVP, put forward the idea of limiting the population to 10 million by 2050, a figure it is currently on course to reach by the early 2040s.

"Anyone who loves Switzerland, with or without a migrant background, wants it to remain a place worth living in, safe and prosperous," SVP representative Nils Fiechter told the BBC. "That is exactly what this initiative is about."

But a preliminary projection published by national broadcaster SRF suggested that the motion had been rejected by a margin of 55 percent to 45 percent.

"We are very relieved and happy," Monika Ruhl, director of the employers' organization Economiesuisse, told broadcaster RTS. "This is an important result for our country and for our relations with the EU."

The SVP insists its motivation was concern over pressure on things such as infrastructure, housing, and natural resources, but opponents said that with 20 percent of the country's population now aged over 65, Switzerland needs help to maintain demographic balance.

Had the proposal been approved, it would have posed a major challenge to Switzerland's relationship with the EU, its biggest trading partner.

In 2002, Switzerland and the EU reached an agreement on the free movement of people, which the European Commission said "aims to grant the same living, employment, and working conditions as those enjoyed by nationals. It covers the fundamental rights of entry, residence, access to employment, self-employment, study, and the right to social security".

According to Swiss government statistics quoted by broadcaster Al Jazeera, since then, Swiss economic output has risen by 24 percent, and its population has gone up by 23 percent, to 9.1 million, as recorded at the end of 2025.

Urs Bieri, from polling company GFS Bern, said that although many people had concerns about the growth of the population, they declined to back the proposal because it did not present a realistic plan, and they feared unintended consequences, particularly to do with relations with the EU. Also, in the current global climate, he added, it had been presented as "the chaos initiative".

"People are also worried about things like having enough care and health workers," he said. "In the current international environment, it's not sensible for a small country to do this."