On 14 June, the Swiss population is being called to the polls to vote in a referendum on limiting the population within the country to 10 million people, thereby restricting the influx of immigrants seeking to reside there. The vote has been organised by the conservative, right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP), citing rising rents, an alleged rise in crime and the overcrowding of the transport system.
The measure is truly dividing the country's population, with polls currently showing 47% in favour and 52% against. "Switzerland is a small country with limited territory, and has experienced the highest population growth in recent years," SVP MP Yvan Pahud told Reuters.
On the other hand, the country's economists and business leaders are deeply concerned that the measure might be approved, as they foresee an economic disaster. Rudolf Minsch, chief economist at the business association economysuisse, stated that the cap was a "populist attempt" to solve complex problems with an artificial and simplistic limit.
With a cap of 10 million inhabitants, Switzerland would be forced to terminate international agreements that promote population growth, including the agreement with the EU allowing the free movement of people, a condition of the complex network of Swiss agreements with Brussels that grant the country access to the European single market. Claude Maurer, chief economist at BAK Economics, a research institute, stated that if Bern were to abandon its bilateral agreements, Swiss economic growth between 2028 and 2045 would be 7.1% lower, equivalent to a loss of 685 billion Swiss francs (867 billion dollars).