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Swiss voters reject 10 million population cap, early projections say

14 June 2026, 12:06 BST

Voters in Switzerland have rejected a proposal to limit the country's population to 10 million, early projections suggest.

Not all votes have been counted, but the current trend suggests 55% of participants voted against, to 45% for.

The proposal came from the right-wing Swiss People's Party, which has long campaigned on an anti-immigration platform.

The divisive vote risked putting the country's free movement agreement with the European Union in jeopardy.

Switzerland's population has grown rapidly since 2002, when it stood at 7.3 million. Now it is 9.1 million, 27% of whom are not Swiss citizens.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c20ygjem17zo

The better automation gets, the less likely populations will support immigration for the sake of economic growth and the greater foothold the far right will get

And yet, automation will increase the capacity for accepting humanitarian migration, or even reduce the need for migration as a result of post-scarcity being introduced to struggling countries.