Photo: Stephan Schacher/Swiss TourismThe number of foreigners in Switzerland increased at a faster rate than the number of Swiss in 2016, according to new figures released on Wednesday. As of January 1st 2017 the population of Switzerland was over 8.4 million, up 1.1 percent from the previous year, the Swiss statistics office said in its annual report. There are now more than 2.1 million foreigners living in Switzerland, up from just under 2.05 million a year earlier , comprising 24.9 percent of the total population. In addition, 167,407 foreigners chose to make Switzerland home in 2016, while just over 90,000 left the country. Since babies born to foreign citizens in Switzerland do not automatically get Swiss citizenship, the figures in the table below also include Swiss-born foreigners.

Source: The Local August 31, 2017 08:26 UTC