Immigration Mainly Explained by Professional Considerations

Reasons for immigrating to Switzerland, by origin (Source: Migration-Mobility Survey 2016)

Immigration to Switzerland is mainly explained by professional considerations. In fact, 62% of all surveyed migrants mentioned professional reasons to explain their arrival in Switzerland, 38% lifestyle reasons or to gain new experiences, 29% family reasons, 8% educational reasons and 20% other reasons, such as the social network in Switzerland, tax or political reasons.

The reasons for immigration, however, differ greatly according to the origin group. While over 65% of the citizens of one of the neighboring countries to Switzerland or the United Kingdom mentioned professional reasons, this share decreases to under 60% for the Spanish, Portuguese, North Americans and Indians. Only around 20% of the West Africans and South Americans indicated that their immigration was based on professional considerations. For the latter, family reasons represent the most cited reason for immigration (around 65%). Finally, 10% of individuals from West Africa declare having immigrated for political reasons.

Unsurprisingly, women more often than men mentioned family reasons to explained their migration, while men mentioned more frequently professional reasons. On the one hand, 70% of the men versus 50% of the women declare having immigrated for professional reasons. On the other hand, 43% of the women vs 18% of men did so for family reasons.