ZURICH, April 29 (Reuters) – A slim majority of Swiss are backing an upcoming referendum proposal to limit Switzerland’s population to 10 million, and support for it is growing, an opinion poll showed on Wednesday.
The government has rejected the initiative backed by the right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP) being put to voters on June 14, saying it will hurt cooperation with the European Union and damage the economy by restricting the labour market.
But concern about rapid population growth and pressure on public infrastructure is encouraging many Swiss to support the proposal, the survey by media group Tamedia with newspaper “20 Minuten” and polling institute Leewas showed.
Switzerland’s population is now more than 9 million, with official data showing foreign nationals accounted for more than 27% by 2024.
The survey, conducted on April 22 and 23 and published in newspaper Tages-Anzeiger, showed 52% of 16,176 respondents in favour of the proposal or leaning that way, while 46% took the opposite view. The rest gave no opinion.
A previous poll from early March had shown 45% backing the initiative and 47% against it, the newspaper said, flagging the latest result as unusual in that Swiss referendum proposals generally lose support as the voting day comes closer.
The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Under the proposal, the permanent resident population must not exceed 10 million before 2050, and Switzerland should abandon its freedom of movement agreement with the EU.
Swiss lawmakers are debating a Swiss-EU deal struck in late 2024 to deepen economic ties, after a challenging 2025 that saw Switzerland unexpectedly hit with the highest U.S. trade tariffs in Europe.
The SVP, Switzerland’s biggest party, opposes closer integration with the EU, seeing it as a threat to Swiss sovereignty and a source of excess regulation.
(Reporting by Dave Graham; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
