Swiss voters reject population cap as Malta faces faster growth and higher population density

Swiss voters have rejected a proposal to cap their country’s population at 10 million, with most of the arguments made during the campaign being identical to those increasingly being made in Malta.

In Sunday’s referendum, 54.8% of Swiss voters rejected the ‘Sustainability Initiative’, which proposed measures aimed at preventing Switzerland’s population from exceeding 10 million people by 2050.

The proposal was put forward against a backdrop of concerns in Switzerland about housing availability, infrastructure capacity, transport congestion and environmental pressures associated with population growth.

According to the Swiss Federal Statistical Office, Switzerland’s population stood at just over 9.1 million at the end of 2025. Over the past decade, the country’s population has increased by approximately 790,000 people, representing a growth rate of around 10%.

With a land area of 41,285 square kilometres, Switzerland’s population density currently stands at about 220 people per square kilometre.

Malta’s population density trajectory over the same period is worse.

National Statistics Office figures show that Malta’s population increased from approximately 440,000 residents in 2014 to around 574,000 today, an increase of more than 130,000 people, or roughly 30%.

Although Malta’s absolute increase was much smaller than Switzerland’s, the growth occurred within a territory of just 316 square kilometres.

As a result, Malta’s population density has risen to more than 1,800 people per square kilometre, among the highest levels in Europe.

Population growth in both countries has been driven primarily by migration, although the legal and policy frameworks governing migration differ significantly.

Switzerland is not a member of the EU but participates in the free movement of persons through bilateral agreements with the bloc. The referendum campaign included debate over whether population limits could affect those agreements and Switzerland’s access to labour from EU countries.

Malta, as an EU member state, is bound by the principle of free movement, which allows EU citizens to live and work in other member states. This means Malta cannot impose quotas on EU citizens moving to the country.

However, Malta retains control over policies relating to third-country nationals and labour market requirements.

These have become increasingly important as economic growth has been accompanied by a sharp increase in the foreign workforce, mostly third-country nationals who are paid at exploitative rates.

Over the past decade, Malta’s growth model, described recently by the Malta Fiscal Advisory Council as unsustainable, has relied heavily on expanding employment, particularly in sectors such as construction, tourism, hospitality, transport, care services and other labour-intensive industries.

Business lobbies and government officials have argued that foreign workers have helped address labour shortages and sustain economic growth. However, economists and other observers have questioned whether continued population growth is placing excessive pressure on infrastructure, housing and public services.

The issue featured prominently during Malta’s recent election campaign, when every party was forced to come to terms with population policy, infrastructure planning, and the long-term sustainability of continued growth.

The economic contribution made by foreign workers was repeatedly contrasted with warnings over measures that could undermine labour supply.

Concerns about traffic, housing affordability, construction activity, infrastructure capacity, and the loss of open spaces are increasingly being linked to Malta’s rapid demographic growth, and the Labour administration’s short-term economic strategy, which is heavily dependent on a continuous inflow of cheap labour to sustain growth and meet demand.

So far, the government has not introduced measures aimed at significantly curbing the inflow of third-country nationals.

There is also a lack of information about a comprehensive long-term strategy outlining how the government expects Malta’s population to develop over the coming years, or what population levels the country’s infrastructure, housing stock and environment can sustainably support.