Which Swiss cantons had the highest naturalisation rates in 2024?

Curious to know which Swiss cantons and municipalities have the highest and lowest naturalisation rates in Switzerland? Here's where the most international residents got citizenship in Switzerland, according to a 20 Minuten summary.

Geneva, Zurich and Vaud naturalised the most people in Switzerland

20 Minuten has shared which Swiss cantons and Gemeinden (local councils/municipalities) had the highest and lowest rates of naturalisation in Switzerland in 2024. The news outlet has collated data from various sources, including the Federal Migration Committee and the Federal Statistical Office. 

According to 20 Minuten, around 40.000 people living in Switzerland are given citizenship each year. Naturalisation is the most common way for international residents to get a Swiss passport. Applicants need to have been living in Switzerland for at least 10 years, including three of the five years immediately before submitting an application, and hold a C-permit. 

As the Swiss citizenship application process is known to be lengthy, 20 Minuten looked at which cantons had the highest naturalisation rate per 100 eligible people in 2024. Perhaps to no surprise, the international cantons of Geneva (2,84 percent), Zurich (2,16 percent) and Vaud (1,95 percent) naturalised the most international people.

In comparison, the cantons with the lowest naturalisation rates were Jura (0,44 percent), Appenzell Innerhoden (0,62 percent) and Neuchâtel (0,63 percent).

Swiss naturalisation rates vary at a local level too

Taking a look at a local level, the Swiss municipalities that naturalised the most people in 2024 were Le Cerneux-Péquignot in Neuchâtel (44,4 percent), Bürchen in Valais (38,5 percent) and Wenslingen in Basel-Landschaft (21,7 percent). 

There were a number of local councils spread across the country that didn’t naturalise any international residents in 2024. Mainly in cantons Jura (Grandfontaine, Haute-Ajoie, Bure), Valais (Saas-Almagell, Täsch, Zwischbergen) and Graubünden (Valsot, Bergün Filisur, Zuoz).

Some cantons in Switzerland plan to make the naturalisation process easier, most recently in the city of Lucerne, which reduced naturalisation fees to 500 Swiss francs. In stark contrast, the State Secretariat for Migration has recently been accused of discrimination for rejecting an application because references didn’t have “Swiss-sounding names”.