A sign sits in a field, on the day of the vote on a plan backed by the right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP) to limit population growth to 10 million inhabitants, near Hundwil, Switzerland, June 14, 2026. [Photo/Agencies]
Voters in Switzerland have rejected a proposal to limit the country's population to 10 million people — a measure critics said could have had Brexit-like consequences for the economy and relations with the European Union.
The mountainous country at the heart of Europe is not a member of the EU or the NATO military alliance.
According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, among its 38 member states, only Luxembourg and Australia have a higher foreign-born population percentage than Switzerland, which in 2024 had 32 percent foreign-born residents, who came mainly from other European countries.
The right-wing Swiss People's Party, or SVP, put forward the idea of limiting the population to 10 million by 2050, a figure it is currently on course to reach by the early 2040s.
