The Local (Switzerland)

1 week ago | thelocal.ch | Ben McPartland

The number of foreigners who leave Switzerland after having lived here for a period of time is also quite high in comparison with other European nations, according to Eurostat migration statistics. Between 2013 and 2022, for instance, an average of 155,000 people immigrated to Switzerland each year. During the same period, about 90,000 foreign nationals left the country.

1 week ago | thelocal.ch | Ben McPartland

Swiss bureaucracy can be notoriously painful for Swiss nationals, let alone foreign residents. So we want to hear about the most troublesome bureaucratic procedures in Switzerland. Is it taxes, driving licences, or renewing residency permits? What do you think really needs to improve? Please take a minute or two to share your experiences and tips with fellow readers. We'll publish the most useful responses in a future article. If the questionnaire does not appear below, please click here.

1 week ago | thelocal.ch | Tom Pugh

As of Tuesday, April 29th, two Deutsche Bahn (DB) routes that had previously terminated further inside Switzerland are now set to end near the German-Swiss border. DB's EuroCity (EC) 7 service from Hamburg to Interlaken Ost, and the EC 9 service from Dortmund to Zurich, will now terminate in the city of Basel. The decision was made by Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) to mitigate the impact of chronically late-running DB trains on the Swiss network.

2 months ago | thelocal.ch | Ben McPartland

The Twint app, which was first introduced in Switzerland in 2014, has become hugely popular in the country with around 5 million users It is now accepted by 80 percent of retailers and supermarkets in Switzerland. In a recent statement Twint announced a series of upgrades aimed at making it simpler for customers but also for business owners. One of the new features will allow businesses to offer customers an “Express checkout” to customers when they shop online.

2 months ago | thelocal.ch | Claudia Delpero |Europe Street

EU countries granted citizenship to 1,050,100 foreign residents in 2023, the latest data by Eurostat, the EU statistical office, revealed. This is an increase of over 6 percent compared to 2022 and does not consider the naturalisation of people living abroad, those who acquired citizenship by marriage or descent for instance. Spain was the country that granted the largest number of citizenships (240,200), followed by Italy (213,600), Germany (199,800) and France (97,300).