Almost one in five Swiss residents has dual nationality

Almost a quarter of Swiss dual nationals possess an Italian passport. Keystone

Around 17% of Swiss residents over the age of 15 hold two passports. Canton Geneva has the highest proportion of dual nationals at 45%.

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According to figures released by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) on Tuesday, the double nationality rate exceeds 20% in the cantons of Zurich, Basel City, Ticino, Vaud and Neuchâtel. The cantons with the lowest proportion of Swiss citizens with a second passport are Bern, Uri, Schwyz, Obwalden, Nidwalden, Appenzell Inner Rhodes and Appenzell Outer Rhodes, which do not exceed 10%.

Among the dual national population, 64.4% obtained Swiss nationality by naturalisation, while 35.6% had it at birth. The non-Swiss nationality most prevalent among dual nationals is Italian (24.7%), followed by French (11.2%) and German (7.8%).

A total of 45,000 people were naturalised in Switzerland in 2017: 2,000 more than the previous year. More than three-quarters of them came from a European country. One-fifth of the total benefited from a facilitated naturalisation process offered to spouses and children of Swiss citizens.

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