Switzerland will vote in a referendum to limit the population to 10 million.

BarcelonaSwitzerland is famous for allowing its citizens to determine the country's course through direct democracy. It has put everything from social issues like same-sex marriage to economic debates like basic income to referendums. Now, the country faces another momentous vote: deciding whether to legally limit its population to 10 million. This initiative, dubbed "Not in a Switzerland of 10 Million" and proposed by the far-right Swiss People's Party, will be put to a vote on June 14, the government announced Wednesday. The proposal has set off alarm bells in both the government and the business and financial sectors. They warn that such a limit could have serious consequences for the country, ranging from having to suspend agreements with the European Union to a sluggish economy due to a labor shortage. Although the government and other political parties are vehemently opposed, a December 2025 poll puts support for the initiative at around 48%, suggesting a very close race leading up to June.

If approved, the initiative would compel the Swiss government and Parliament to take action if the country's permanent population, currently 9.1 million, exceeds 9.5 million. Upon reaching what proponents consider the "alert threshold," entry would be barred to newcomers, including asylum seekers, the right to family reunification for foreigners would be suspended, and naturalizations would be denied to those already provisionally admitted.

Furthermore, if the population were to reach 10 million, Switzerland would have to withdraw from international agreements that "encourage population growth." This would force the government to withdraw from its free movement agreement with the European Union, which is also the country's largest export market.

Explosive growth

Switzerland's economic appeal has driven the arrival of thousands of workers, from low-skilled laborers to highly skilled professionals attracted by significantly higher wages than in their home countries. This has caused Switzerland's population to grow almost five times faster than the average of the surrounding EU countries over the past decade. According to government figures, approximately 27% of Swiss residents are not citizens.

The Swiss People's Party, the country's largest political party, uses the "population explosion" as a pretext to explain rising rental prices and the deterioration of infrastructure and public services. "A small economic elite benefits from uncontrolled immigration: the majority of the Swiss population suffers the consequences," the party states on its website.

"GDP per capita hasn't grown in the last three years and real wages have fallen," Professor Stefan Legge of the University of St. Gallen told Bloomberg. "Many people are worse off now than they were three years ago. And they're looking for someone to blame."