Two-thirds of people in Switzerland speak at least two languages each day

Switzerland is world-famous for being a multilingual country, and new data shows that its residents put their linguistic skills to good, regular use. Two-thirds of the population say they often use at least two different languages daily.

Majority in Switzerland use multiple languages regularly

Data from the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) shows that two-thirds of the population of Switzerland regularly use several languages in their everyday life - whether at home with their family, at work, or online. 

The majority of the multilingual people in Switzerland (66%) live in the French-speaking Swiss cantons, the FSO said, while the proportion of people who regularly use multiple languages decreases with age. For instance, 81% of 15- to 24-year-olds report speaking multiple languages, compared to just 38% of those aged 65 and over. 

English most widely spoken non-national language

Alongside the national languages of Switzerland, the population also regularly uses English, which is the most widely spoken non-national language at 44%. Indeed, English is regularly spoken more often than French in German-speaking Switzerland (45% versus 15%), and more often than German in French-speaking Switzerland (41% versus 16%). 52% of the population between the ages of 15 and 64 who speak English as a second language rate their skills as good or very good. 

Other widely used non-national languages include Spanish (6%), Portuguese (4%) and Albanian (4%). Spanish and Portuguese are particularly commonly spoken in French-speaking Switzerland (9% each), whereas Albanian, Bosnian, Croatian, Montenegrin and Serbian are more common in German-speaking Switzerland (4% each). 

The data also shows that more than a quarter of the population aged 25 and over is learning one or more languages. Most commonly, people are taking English courses (32%), German courses (22%) and French courses (18%) to learn or improve their language skills.