8 Billion Lives
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Where you could be born / Europe / Western Europe

Born in Switzerland

About 1 in 1,578 people born in 2023 started life in Switzerland. A boy can expect to live 82 years and a girl 86, up from 67 and 71 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and nearly everyone has basic drinking water.

1 in 1,578
odds of being born here
83,700 births · Ranked 114th of 230
82 / 86
years of life, boys / girls
Was 67 / 71 in 1950
$31,729
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 25th of 203 · extrapolated
85%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 15 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 38 in every 1,000 births to 3.6.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

0255075100195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
010203040195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth82.0 years for boys, 85.8 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 53.6 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year74,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people4.5World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles95%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV0.2%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year5 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 2.4 children on average in 1950. Now it is 1.4, below the 2.1 it takes to keep a population steady.

Children per woman
0123195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman1.43UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth32.3 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 41 and the poorest fifth 8.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2023
8%Poorest fifth
12%Second
17%Middle
22%Fourth
41%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $31,729 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth41% / 8% (2023)World Bank PIP
Unemployment4.0% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises2.1% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person-0.4% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming2% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed17% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment103% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Zürich, with 415,367 people.

85%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
100%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Zürich415,367
Geneva201,741
Basel177,595
Lausanne139,111
Bern121,631
Languages
Share of people who can use each
German76%
Swiss German66%
English45%
French39%
Italian15%
German, Swiss German, French, Italian is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Zurich755,255
Bern294,387
Geneva288,245
Vaud284,835
Basel-City197,595
Saint Gallen169,262
Lucerne153,748
Ticino122,229
Valais87,576
Neuchâtel71,417

Sourced: GeoNames Population of each state, province or region.

All 20 regions
  • Zurich755,255
  • Bern294,387
  • Geneva288,245
  • Vaud284,835
  • Basel-City197,595
  • Saint Gallen169,262
  • Lucerne153,748
  • Ticino122,229
  • Valais87,576
  • Neuchâtel71,417
  • Zug67,807
  • Fribourg61,803
  • Aargau59,034
  • Basel-Landschaft54,332
  • Solothurn51,066
  • Thurgau47,604
  • Schaffhausen36,587
  • Grisons35,373
  • Schwyz31,048
  • Appenzell Ausserrhoden15,744

People on the move

About 5.7% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are Italy, France, Spain.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
Italy181,622
France96,066
Spain59,271
Residents born abroad31.1% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 5.7% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostItaly (181,622), France (96,066), Spain (59,271)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $3.9 billion a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

99% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 55%.

99%
of older people receive a pension (2021)
55%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2021)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Reported COVID-19 deaths, 2020 to 202414,170Our World in Data, from WHO

Now live it.

Born in Switzerland, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in Switzerland

Elsewhere in Europe

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How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences