Switzerland will vote this summer on a proposal aimed at capping the country’s population at 10 million, the latest attempt by the country’s leading right-wing party to limit immigration.
The Swiss People’s Party (SVP), which has the most seats in parliament, announced the referendum on Wednesday after gathering sufficient support through petition signatures.
The measure, which will be put on the national ballot on June 14, comes just as the population approached 9.1 million, according to the Federal Statistical Office.
The anti-immigration campaign was proposed as officials noted that foreign-born residents now make up about 27% of the population.
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Snow covers the hills around Davos, Switzerland, on January 19, 2020. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)
The SVP, which has long tried to curb rising migration, said more than 1 million immigrants from the European Union (EU) would come to Switzerland in 2024.
The party called the situation “uncontrolled immigration” and said that “the majority of the Swiss population is suffering” from increased demand for environmental resources and infrastructure.
“Our small country is bursting at the seams,” the party said. “Nature is being paved. There are increasing traffic jams on the roads, overloaded public transport, overloaded schools, housing shortages and rising rents, skyrocketing crime and exploding costs for Swiss taxpayers.”
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A huge crowd waves numerous Swiss flags on January 10, 2026 in Adelboden, Switzerland. (Christophe Pallot/Agence Zoom/Getty Images)
If the measure is enshrined in law, both Swiss citizens and foreign residents would not be allowed to exceed the total population of 10 million before 2050.
If the population reaches 9.5 million before then, the government could take steps to curb growth by introducing asylum and family reunification measures, noting that many immigrants – mainly 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-wing and liberal groups, have reportedly rejected the initiative.
Critics warned that adopting such a measure could strain Switzerland’s relations with its European neighbors as most foreign-born residents come from other EU countries.
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Flags of the European Union member states 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 do not care about the concerns of the population, who are increasingly suffering from uncontrolled immigration.”
They also stressed that they have no intention of terminating the “free movement of persons agreement with the EU,” which allows European citizens to travel and work freely across borders, and said such cancellation would remain a last resort if the Federal Council fails to restrict immigration.
