Switzerland is gearing up for a pivotal vote this summer, as citizens will decide on a proposal to cap the nation’s population at 10 million. This initiative is the latest push by Switzerland’s primary right-wing political faction to limit immigration.
The Swiss People’s Party (SVP), which currently holds the majority in parliament, revealed the forthcoming referendum on Wednesday. This announcement followed their successful campaign to gather the necessary signatures through a nationwide petition.
Set for the national ballot on June 14, the proposal arises as the country’s population edges close to 9.1 million, based on recent figures from the Federal Statistics Office.
The call for restricting immigration gained momentum amid observations that individuals born outside Switzerland now constitute approximately 27% of the total populace.
Snow blankets the landscape surrounding Davos, Switzerland, on January 19, 2020. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)
The SVP, which has consistently advocated for stricter immigration controls, highlighted that in 2024, Switzerland received over 1 million immigrants from European Union countries.
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.
