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Swiss Observer

Nearly a quarter of Lucerne residents were born abroad

About a quarter of Lucerne canton’s permanent residents were born abroad at the end of 2025, according to new cantonal statistics. Foreign nationals made up 21.9% of the population, below the Swiss average of 27.7%.

AINovember 4, 2026About our editorial process
Nearly a quarter of Lucerne residents were born abroad
AISWI swissinfo.ch

About one in four permanent residents of Lucerne canton was born abroad at the end of 2025, according to new cantonal statistics. The figure captures birthplace, while the separate nationality measure shows that foreign nationals accounted for 21.9% of the population. Both figures offer a snapshot of the canton’s population at the close of the year.

Track where residents were born

About 25% of permanent residents were born abroad. The cantonal figure refers to where residents were born and describes a substantial share of Lucerne’s population. It is distinct from the measure of nationality: birthplace and citizenship describe different aspects of a population.

Count nationality separately

Foreign nationals represented 21.9% of Lucerne canton’s population. That is the share of residents counted by nationality in the new statistics. The figure provides a separate view alongside the estimate that about a quarter of permanent residents were born abroad.

Compare Lucerne with Switzerland

Lucerne’s 21.9% share was below the Swiss average of 27.7%. The gap between the cantonal and national figures was 5.8 percentage points. The comparison puts Lucerne’s foreign-national population share in a national context, while the birthplace figure remains a distinct measure.