World Factbook
Switzerland
Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft (German)/ Confederation Suisse (French)/ Confederazione Svizzera (Italian)/ Confederaziun Svizra (Romansh)
Last updated: 2026-03-28 (today)
Languages
note
note : shares sum to more than 100% because respondents could indicate more than one main language
Languages
German (or Swiss German) (official) 62.1%, French (official) 22.8%, Italian (official) 8%, English 5.7%, Portuguese 3.5%, Albanian 3.3%, Serbo-Croatian 2.3%, Spanish 2.3%, Romansh (official) 0.5%, other 7.9% (2019 est.)
major-language sample(s)
Das World Factbook, die unverzichtbare Quelle für grundlegende Informationen. (German) The World Factbook, une source indispensable d'informations de base. (French) L'Almanacco dei fatti del mondo, l'indispensabile fonte per le informazioni di base. (Italian) The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.
Religions
Roman Catholic 34.4%, Protestant 22.5%, other Christian 5.7%, Muslim 5.4%, other 1.5%, none 29.4%, unspecified 1.1% (2020 est.)
Sex ratio
at birth
1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years
1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years
1.02 male(s)/female
total population
0.99 male(s)/female (2024 est.)
65 years and over
0.85 male(s)/female
Birth rate
10.01 births/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Death rate
8.61 deaths/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Median age
male
43.5 years
total
44.4 years (2025 est.)
female
44.9 years
Population
male
4,436,858
total
8,925,741 (2025 est.)
female
4,488,883
Nationality
noun
Swiss (singular and plural)
adjective
Swiss
Tobacco use
male
25.5% (2025 est.)
total
22.8% (2025 est.)
female
20.1% (2025 est.)
Urbanization
urban population
74.2% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization
0.79% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Age structure
0-14 years
15.1% (male 685,221/female 650,802)
15-64 years
64.6% (male 2,887,767/female 2,834,842)
65 years and over
20.3% (2024 est.) (male 830,117/female 971,825)
Ethnic groups
Swiss 69.2%, German 4.2%, Italian 3.2%, Portuguese 2.5%, French 2.1%, Kosovan 1.1%, Turkish 1%, other 16.7% (2020 est.)
note: data represent permanent and non-permanent resident population by country of birth
Dependency ratios
total dependency ratio
55.8 (2025 est.)
youth dependency ratio
23.5 (2025 est.)
potential support ratio
3.1 (2025 est.)
elderly dependency ratio
32.3 (2025 est.)
Physician density
4.48 physicians/1,000 population (2022)
Health expenditure
Health expenditure (as % of GDP)
11.8% of GDP (2021)
Health expenditure (as % of national budget)
12.4% of national budget (2022 est.)
Net migration rate
5.79 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Hospital bed density
4.4 beds/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Total fertility rate
1.59 children born/woman (2025 est.)
Drinking water source
improved: rural
rural: 100% of population (2022 est.)
improved: total
total: 100% of population (2022 est.)
improved: urban
urban: 100% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: rural
rural: 0% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: total
total: 0% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: urban
urban: 0% of population (2022 est.)
Education expenditure
Education expenditure (% GDP)
4.9% of GDP (2022 est.)
Education expenditure (% national budget)
15.4% national budget (2022 est.)
Infant mortality rate
male
3.4 deaths/1,000 live births
total
3 deaths/1,000 live births (2025 est.)
female
2.5 deaths/1,000 live births
Population growth rate
0.72% (2025 est.)
Gross reproduction rate
0.78 (2025 est.)
Population distribution
population distribution corresponds to elevation, with the northern and western areas far more heavily populated; the higher Alps of the south limit settlement
Life expectancy at birth
male
82 years
female
85.8 years
total population
83.9 years (2024 est.)
Maternal mortality ratio
5 deaths/100,000 live births (2023 est.)
Sanitation facility access
improved: rural
rural: 100% of population (2022 est.)
improved: total
total: 100% of population (2022 est.)
improved: urban
urban: 100% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: rural
rural: 0% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: total
total: 0% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: urban
urban: 0% of population (2022 est.)
Alcohol consumption per capita
beer
3.17 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
wine
4.35 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
total
9.41 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
spirits
1.76 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
other alcohols
0.12 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Major urban areas - population
1.432 million Zurich, 441,000 BERN (capital) (2023)
Obesity - adult prevalence rate
19.5% (2016)
Mother's mean age at first birth
31.1 years (2020 est.)
Currently married women (ages 15-49)
57.5% (2022 est.)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)
male
17 years (2023 est.)
total
17 years (2023 est.)
female
17 years (2023 est.)