Switzerland will vote on capping its population at 10 million under controversial plan

A controversial plan will be put to a national vote after a far right political party gathered enough signatures in support.

Switzerland, which has 9 million inhabitants, could cap its population at 10 million people.

The far right Swiss People’s Party (SVP) is behind the push to curb population growth.

They want to cap the population at 10 million by 2050 and plan to do so by limiting immigration.

The Swiss government has called the plan “dangerous” and warned it will have negative impacts on the economy and society, but the SVP gathered enough signatures in support this year (over 100,000) to put the proposal to a national vote.

A date for the plebiscite has not been confirmed but is not expected to take place before 2026.

More than one in four residents in Switzerland are foreign-born. Picture: Getty Images

Under the proposal, when the population exceeds 9.5 million, the government would be required to crack down on immigration and no longer allow people who have been temporarily admitted, such as those seeking asylum, to apply for permanent residence or citizenship.

The proposal has been the subject of fierce debate for months.

About 30 per cent of residents in Switzerland (more than one in four) are foreign-born.

Speaking at a Bloomberg event in Zurich last week, Switzerland’s Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter said capping the country’s population would be a threat to businesses that rely foreigners.

“When people talk about immigration or migration, what they mean is asylum seekers,” she said.

“They don’t really mean the qualified staff in hospitals, the doctors we need. We couldn’t work without them.”

She said that Swiss businesses should try to recruit Swiss people when possible, but acknowledged that the country’s ageing population can make that challenging.