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Switzerland is gearing up for a crucial vote this summer on a proposal to limit its population to 10 million, marking the latest move by the country’s predominant right-wing party to control immigration.
The Swiss People’s Party (SVP), which currently occupies the most seats in parliament, declared the referendum this Wednesday after successfully collecting enough petition signatures to prompt a national vote.
This initiative, scheduled for the national ballot on June 14, arrives at a time when the country’s population is approaching 9.1 million, as reported by the Federal Statistics Office.
The proposal to curb immigration has gained momentum amid observations that individuals born outside Switzerland now represent about 27% of the population.
Snow blankets the hills surrounding Davos, Switzerland, as captured on January 19, 2020. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)
The SVP, which has long sought to curb rising migration, said that more than 1 million immigrants from the European Union (EU) came to Switzerland in 2024.
The party called the situation “uncontrolled immigration,” saying that “the majority of the Swiss population suffers” from increased demand on environmental resources and infrastructure.
“Our small country is bursting at the seams,” the party said. “Nature is being paved over. There are ever more traffic jams on the roads, overburdened public transport, overburdened schools, housing shortage and rising rents, massively increasing crime and exploding costs for Swiss taxpayers.”
A massive crowd waves numerous Swiss flags on January 10, 2026, in Adelboden, Switzerland. (Christophe Pallot/Agence Zoom/Getty Images)
If the measure is enshrined into law, both Swiss citizens and foreign residents must not exceed a total population of 10 million before 2050.
If the population reaches 9.5 million before then, the government may take steps to curb growth by introducing measures on asylum and family reunification, noting that many immigrants — primarily Muslim men from North Africa, the Middle East and Afghanistan — enter through asylum applications.
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Major Swiss political parties outside the SVP, including centrist, left-leaning and liberal groups, have reportedly rejected the initiative.
Critics cautioned that the passing of such a measure could strain Switzerland’s relations with its European neighbors, as most foreign-born residents hail from other EU countries.
Flags of the member states of the European Union blow in the wind at dusk in front of the European Parliament on November 27, 2019, in Strasbourg, France. (Thierry Monasse/Getty Images)
In response, the SVP said lawmakers “could not have made it clearer that they don’t care about the concerns of the population, which is increasingly suffering from uncontrolled immigration.”
They also stressed that they do not intend to terminate the “free movement of persons agreement with the EU,” which allows European citizens to move and work freely across borders, and said such cancellation would remain a last resort if the Federal Council fails to limit immigration.