Reference metadata describe statistical concepts and methodologies used for the collection and generation of data. They provide information on data quality and, since they are strongly content-oriented, assist users in interpreting the data. Reference metadata, unlike structural metadata, can be decoupled from the data.
[CH1] Office Federal de la Statistique (Swiss Federal Statistical Office)
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO)
1.2. Contact organisation unit
Section Demography and Migration (DEM)
1.3. Contact name
Confidential because of GDPR
1.4. Contact person function
Confidential because of GDPR
1.5. Contact mail address
Federal Statistical Office Espace de l'Europe 10 2010 Neuchâtel SWITZERLAND
1.6. Contact email address
Confidential because of GDPR
1.7. Contact phone number
Confidential because of GDPR
1.8. Contact fax number
Confidential because of GDPR
2.1. Metadata last certified
14 February 2025
2.2. Metadata last posted
3 March 2025
2.3. Metadata last update
6 March 2025
3.1. Data description
Data and metadata are transmitted to Eurostat by the Member States in the framework of the Unified Demographic Data Collection which is in accordance with Regulation (EC) 862/2007 and Regulation (EU) 1260/2013 and their implementing regulations.
The regional breakdown of the Member States in the regional demographic tables is done under the most recent NUTS classification. There are agreements between Eurostat and Candidate countries as well as between Eurostat and EFTA countries, for which statistical regions have been coded in a way that resembles NUTS. For more information on the versions in force, please see Eurostat NUTS.
3.3. Coverage - sector
Not applicable.
3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
3.4.1 Statistical concepts and definitions used in the statistics transmitted to Eurostat
One of the following definitions is used by a country when explaining the statistical concepts:
Usually resident population means all persons having their usual residence in a Member State at the reference time; for more information see the Article 2 of Regulation (EU) 1260/2013.
Legal residence population is composed of those persons who are entitled to be settled in the country at the reference date, either by holding the national citizenship or by other authorization issued by national authorities.
Registered residence population is composed of those persons who are listed on one or more registers owned by national authorities at the reference date. Each registered person shall be counted only once.
See the table 3.4.1 in the annex POPSTAT_UNIESMS_A.
3.4.2 Statistical concepts and definitions used in the statistics disseminated in the National Statistical Institute's website
See the table 3.4.2 in the annex POPSTAT_UNIESMS_A.
3.5. Statistical unit
Number of persons.
3.6. Statistical population
See the table 3.6 in the annex POPSTAT_UNIESMS_A.
3.7. Reference area
Population, live births and deaths data are available at national and regional level of geographical detail.
3.8. Coverage - Time
1 January - 31 December.
3.9. Base period
Not applicable.
Data is collected at unit (person) level.
The reference date for population data is the end of the reference period (midnight of 31 December). The reference period for vital and dual events data is the calendar year in which the events occurred. The reference period for migration flow data is the calendar year during which the migration occurred.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation of 18 April 1999; Federal Statistics Act of 9 October 1992 (CC 431.01); Federal Act on the Fedral Census of 22 June 2007 (CC 431.112); Ordinance on the conduct of Statistical Surveys by Confederation of 30 June 1993 (CC 431.012.1); Ordinance on the Federal Population Census of 19 December 2008 (CC 431.112.1).
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
Not available.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
Federal Act on Data Protection of 19 June 1992 (CC 235.1) revised on 20 of September 2020 (available in French); Ordinance to the Federal Act on Data Protection of 14 June 1993 (CC 235.11); Federal Statistics Act of 9 October 1992 (CC 431.01);
“Section 5 – Dissemination and services” of the Federal Statistics Act specifies:
Article 18, paragraph 3: Unless such publication is required by law, the results may not enable any conclusions to be drawn regarding the circumstances of individual natural persons or legal entities that the person or entity concerned has not already made generally available.
Article 19, paragraph 2: The federal statistical bodies providers may disclose personal data for purposes not related to specific persons, in particular for research, planning or statistics, to research and statistical offices of the Confederation and to third parties, if:
the data is rendered anonymous, as soon as the purpose of the processing the data is achieved;
the recipient divulges the data with the consent of the statistics generators;
the recipient only discloses the results so that the persons concerned are not recognisable; and
the recpient meets the requirements for compliance with statistical secrecy and the other data protection provisions.
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
Not available.
8.1. Release calendar
Provisional data on Vital Statistics are released at the beginning of April, definitive data at the end of June of each year. Provisional data on Population Size and Composition are released at the beginning of April, definitive data at the end of August of each year. Definitive data on Migration are released at the end of August of each year.
Data and metadata are available on internet. Data are mostly made available through excel tables and interactive tables (PC-Axis), on the web pages of the FSO, in German and French, and partly in Italian and English.
For researchers, microdata can be made available for a limited duration, after signing a data protection contract and data linkage contract.
The data are disseminated to all users at the same time. Users are informed via newsletters or press releases.
Some provisional vital events data are disseminated monthly. Provisional data on population size and composition are disseminated quarterly. The remaining vital events data and data on population size and composition are disseminated twice a year (first provisional, then definitive).
Migration flow data are disseminated yearly.
Weekly deaths, published every Tuesday.
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
Press releases for vital events, population stock and migration data:
Data are mainly made available on the FSO web pages, according to the release calendar. Results can be found under different topics (the main page for the Population domain).
The annual printed publications like “Switzerland's population” present (among other topics) results on vital events, population stock and migration.
See the table 11.2.2 in the annex POPSTAT_UNIESMS_A.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
Not available.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
Not available.
12.3. Completeness
Not available.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
Overall accuracy and special cases (inclusion/exclusion of asylum seekers and refugees, persons living on unauthorised or irregular basis, international students, persons who do not register/deregister, etc.).
See the table 13.1 in the annex POPSTAT_UNIESMS_A.
13.1.1 Accuracy - unknown values
See the table 13.1.1 in the annex POPSTAT_UNIESMS_A.
13.2. Sampling error
See the table 13.2 in the annex POPSTAT_UNIESMS_A.
13.3. Non-sampling error
See the table 13.3 in the annex POPSTAT_UNIESMS_A.
14.1. Timeliness
According to Article 4 (2) of the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 205/2014, each year Member States shall provide the Commission (Eurostat) with data at national and regional level as described in Annex II and related standard reference metadata (in the metadata structure definition defined for the Euro SDMX Metadata Structure) for the reference year within 12 months of the end of the reference year. According to Article 3 (2) of the Commission Regulation (EU) No 862/2007, Statistics on international migration, usually resident population and acquisition of citizenship shall be supplied to the Commission (Eurostat) within 12 months of the end of the reference year.
14.2. Punctuality
Not applicable.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
Data cover the whole of Switzerland and are completely comparable between geographical areas.
15.2. Comparability - over time
See the table 15.2 in the annex POPSTAT_UNIESMS_A.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
Data are coherent. The use of a unique personal identifier (the social insurance number) in all data sets allows for record matching during the production of the data and the correction of any incoherence.
Incoherence concerning residence permit statistics can only occur between data delivered by the Federal Statstical Office and data eventually delivered by State Secretariate for Migration, but not in the data from one same institution.
Additional information according to the letter/email from 30 October 2018:
The differences between Residence Permits Statistics and International Migration Statistics: International Migration and Residence Permits flow and stock data are not identical due to different population definitions and incoherencies between the data sources used for compiling these statistics.
15.4. Coherence - internal
Data are coherent. The use of a unique personal identifier (the social insurance number) in all data sets allows for record matching during the production of the data and the correction of any incoherence.
No direct burden on respondents for data extracted from registers. A very small burden for citizens by completing register data with a diversity of thematical enquiries. However, reaching for a very small part of population (for example structural survey: annually 200 000 citizens).
17.1. Data revision - policy
Evaluation report of the new census system including its statistics/surveys such as STATPOP, BEVNAT etc.:
Normally, data published are considered definitive and there is no revision.
18.1. Source data
See the table 18.1 in the annex POPSTAT_UNIESMS_A.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Data on population stock and migration are collected quarterly, data on vital events are collected daily.
18.3. Data collection
Register-based data:
A special law was passed to define the minimum content of the already existing registers of persons: the Federal Act of 23 June 2006 on the Harmonisation Register of Residents and of other Official Registers of Persons (CC 431.02. See also the Ordinance on Register Harmonisation of 21 November 2007, CC 431.021). It also addresses the transmission of data to the FSO, the legal obligations regarding registration, the delays in reporting, etc.
Vital events are registered in the system Infostar of the Federal Civil Registry Office, according to the Ordinance on Civil Status of 28 April 2004 (CC 211.112.2).
Persons can be registered in several registers, so during processing the FSO links the records with the help of a unique personal identifier (the social insurance number).
Annual structural survey.
18.4. Data validation
Absolute figures received from the administrative registers are validated by the FSO before being processed and disseminated. Data validation takes place at several levels of data processing, and involves checking rules and data cross validation. Checking rules refer to the fulfilling of the restrictions imposed to the value of a data item in order to consider data as correct. If data are not plausible, the data provider is contacted for clarifications. Cross validations are carried out to check data consistency between the different tables. The last step of data validation refers to data and demographic indicators consistency over time.
18.5. Data compilation
Net migration – the difference between the number of immigrants and the number emigrants during the year (net migration is therefore negative when the number of emigrants exceeds the number of immigrants).
Data and metadata are transmitted to Eurostat by the Member States in the framework of the Unified Demographic Data Collection which is in accordance with Regulation (EC) 862/2007 and Regulation (EU) 1260/2013 and their implementing regulations.
3.4.1 Statistical concepts and definitions used in the statistics transmitted to Eurostat
One of the following definitions is used by a country when explaining the statistical concepts:
Usually resident population means all persons having their usual residence in a Member State at the reference time; for more information see the Article 2 of Regulation (EU) 1260/2013.
Legal residence population is composed of those persons who are entitled to be settled in the country at the reference date, either by holding the national citizenship or by other authorization issued by national authorities.
Registered residence population is composed of those persons who are listed on one or more registers owned by national authorities at the reference date. Each registered person shall be counted only once.
See the table 3.4.1 in the annex POPSTAT_UNIESMS_A.
3.4.2 Statistical concepts and definitions used in the statistics disseminated in the National Statistical Institute's website
See the table 3.4.2 in the annex POPSTAT_UNIESMS_A.
Number of persons.
See the table 3.6 in the annex POPSTAT_UNIESMS_A.
Population, live births and deaths data are available at national and regional level of geographical detail.
The reference date for population data is the end of the reference period (midnight of 31 December). The reference period for vital and dual events data is the calendar year in which the events occurred. The reference period for migration flow data is the calendar year during which the migration occurred.
Overall accuracy and special cases (inclusion/exclusion of asylum seekers and refugees, persons living on unauthorised or irregular basis, international students, persons who do not register/deregister, etc.).
See the table 13.1 in the annex POPSTAT_UNIESMS_A.
13.1.1 Accuracy - unknown values
See the table 13.1.1 in the annex POPSTAT_UNIESMS_A.
Data is collected at unit (person) level.
Net migration – the difference between the number of immigrants and the number emigrants during the year (net migration is therefore negative when the number of emigrants exceeds the number of immigrants).
See the table 18.1 in the annex POPSTAT_UNIESMS_A.
Some provisional vital events data are disseminated monthly. Provisional data on population size and composition are disseminated quarterly. The remaining vital events data and data on population size and composition are disseminated twice a year (first provisional, then definitive).
Migration flow data are disseminated yearly.
Weekly deaths, published every Tuesday.
According to Article 4 (2) of the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 205/2014, each year Member States shall provide the Commission (Eurostat) with data at national and regional level as described in Annex II and related standard reference metadata (in the metadata structure definition defined for the Euro SDMX Metadata Structure) for the reference year within 12 months of the end of the reference year. According to Article 3 (2) of the Commission Regulation (EU) No 862/2007, Statistics on international migration, usually resident population and acquisition of citizenship shall be supplied to the Commission (Eurostat) within 12 months of the end of the reference year.
Data cover the whole of Switzerland and are completely comparable between geographical areas.
See the table 15.2 in the annex POPSTAT_UNIESMS_A.
