The number of Swiss people living abroad is increasing, according to statistics released by the foreign ministry in Berne on Wednesday. Most of the Swiss abroad live in the European Union.

The number of Swiss people living abroad is increasing, according to the latest statistics from the foreign ministry in Berne.

A total of 572,957 Swiss were registered with Swiss authorities as living abroad at the end of June - an increase of 8,739 (1,5 percent) over June 1998.

Nearly 400,000 of the Swiss had double nationality, the rest retained their Swiss identity.

The majority of Swiss resident in foreign countries continue to live in the European Union. Three of Switzerland’s neighbours remain the favourite destination - France (148,580), Germany (67,608) and Italy(40,262).

There are also sizeable contingents in other countries such as Britain, Austria and Spain. Nearly three quarters of the Swiss living in EU nations have double nationality.

Just over 70,000 Swiss residents abroad are registered to vote in the upcoming federal elections on October 24, according to the ministry.

From staff and wire reports.

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