Urban population in Switzerland
Switzerland: Urban population was 7.79 million in 2025. ▲ Rising
Urban population in Switzerland, 1960–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
Analysis
Switzerland recorded 7.79 million for urban population in 2025. That is the highest value across all 66 years on record.
That represents a change of up 1.3% on the previous year and up 24.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, urban population in Switzerland peaked at 7.79 million in 2025 and was at its lowest, 2.72 million, in 1960.
Switzerland ranks 79th of 215 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 66 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 3.13 million | 2.72 million | 3.49 million | 10 |
| 1970s | 3.72 million | 3.55 million | 3.83 million | 10 |
| 1980s | 4.17 million | 3.87 million | 4.52 million | 10 |
| 1990s | 4.96 million | 4.61 million | 5.22 million | 10 |
| 2000s | 5.46 million | 5.27 million | 5.70 million | 10 |
| 2010s | 6.25 million | 5.76 million | 6.93 million | 10 |
| 2020s | 7.49 million | 7.11 million | 7.79 million | 6 |
Countries ranked near Switzerland
More climate change data for Switzerland
- Population growth 1.0% (2025)
- Population, total 9.09 million (2025)
- Urban population growth 1.3% (2025)
- Urban population 85.7% (2025)
- Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million 16.0% (2025)
- Annual freshwater withdrawals, total 1.7 billion cubic meters (2022)
- Annual freshwater withdrawals, total 4.2% (2022)
- Terrestrial protected areas 12.5% (2025)
- Terrestrial and marine protected areas 12.5% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is urban population in Switzerland?
- Urban population in Switzerland was 7.79 million in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest urban population recorded in Switzerland?
- The highest recorded value was 7.79 million in 2025.
- What is the lowest urban population recorded in Switzerland?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.72 million in 1960.
- How does Switzerland rank for urban population?
- Switzerland ranks 79th out of 215 countries with data for 2025.
- Is urban population rising or falling in Switzerland?
- Over the last ten years it is up 24.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Switzerland data come from?
- The figures come from World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN), published as part of Urban population. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 66 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Urban population refers to people living in urban areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated using World Bank population estimates and urban ratios from the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects. Aggregation of urban and rural population may not add up to total population because of different country coverages.