German immigration to Switzerland
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 306,188 (2018) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Zürich; metropolitan areas of Zürich, Basel, Bern / German speaking cantons (some 2/3 to 3/4 of the German migrants); other cantons (some 1/4 to 1/3) | |
| Languages | |
| German, French, Italian | |
| Religion | |
| Irreligious majority (52%); Lutheranism and Roman Catholicism |
About a quarter of a million German nationals had permanent residence in Switzerland in 2009, rising to some 300 thousand five years later. Accounting for multiple citizenships the number of German nationals living in Switzerlands is much higher, at about 450,000 in 2019. For the Germans, Switzerland became the most appreciated country to settle in, to find work or to study. The "surge" of immigration during the first decade of the 21st century, especially the German one, is a result of the EU-15 opening and, for students, of the Bologna Process.