Bern's population continues to grow
In the first half of 2017, the population of the city of Bern increased by 0.12 percent to 141,833 inhabitants. This represents a continuation of the growth seen in previous years.
On June 30, 2017, the city of Bern had 141,833 inhabitants, 173 more than at the beginning of the year. According to Statistik Stadt Bern, the reasons for this growth lie in both the positive birth and migration balance in the first half of the year. Bern's population had already risen in previous years.
In the first half of 2017, there were 5,912 in-migrants compared with 5,875 out-migrants. This results in a positive net migration of 37 people, of whom 20 are Swiss and 17 foreign nationals, according to the statistics authority.
As of the reporting date, 106,757 Swiss and 35,076 foreign nationals live in Bern. These currently account for 24.7 percent of the total population, 0.4 percentage points less than in mid-2016. Among the foreigners, German nationals were the most strongly represented at the end of 2016 with a share of 19.3 percent. In the first half of the year, more Germans moved away than moved in, resulting in negative net migration of -46 people (previous year: -11 people).
Germany is followed by Italy (12.1% of the foreign resident population at the end of 2016), Spain (6.2%) and Portugal (4.7%) as the next largest groups of foreign nationals. Of these three nations, only Italian nationals recorded an immigration gain (+40). The migration balances were negative for Spanish (-49) and Portuguese nationals (-46).
