When German citizens move to European countries abroad, they usually do not go far.

According to data from the German Federal Statistical Office Destatis, Switzerland is the most popular European destination for Germans living outside their homeland.

At the beginning of 2024, 323,600 German citizens had residence in that country. This is not the number of Germans who have ever moved to Switzerland, but the number of German citizens who officially have residence in that European country. In addition, the statistics do not include Germans who, alongside German citizenship, also have Swiss citizenship. Therefore, if a German in Switzerland also has Swiss citizenship, in these statistics they are no longer counted as a 'German abroad'.

Compared with the previous year, the number of Germans in Switzerland increased by 2.4%, or by around 7,600 people. The data confirms that Switzerland remains a particularly attractive combination of proximity, high incomes, a stable labor market, and easier language adaptation for German emigrants.

However, the figures do not indicate mass emigration from Germany. Compared with the total population of around 83.67 million inhabitants, 323,600 Germans in Switzerland make up less than 0.4% of the German population. Still, among the European countries to which German citizens choose to move, Switzerland clearly stands out as the top destination.

Austria immediately behind Switzerland

In second place is Austria, where just over 232,700 German citizens were living at the beginning of 2024. Growth there was even more pronounced than in Switzerland and amounted to 3.4%, which means around 7,700 more people than a year earlier.

Third place is occupied by Spain with around 128,000 German citizens. There too, the number of Germans increased, but more slowly than in Switzerland and Austria. Compared with the beginning of 2023, it rose by 1.8%.

Among the top 10 are also France, the Netherlands, and Italy

Behind the leading trio follow France with around 91,000 German citizens and the Netherlands with around 85,000. Around 41,000 live in Belgium, 35,000 in Italy, 33,000 in Sweden, 28,000 in Denmark, and 26,000 in Norway.

The United Kingdom is not included in this comparison because only data up to 2019 are available for that country. Destatis states that the data for EU and EFTA countries show the situation as of 01.01.2024, while the data for Switzerland refer to 31.12.2023.

Some Germans form a permanent bond with their new country

Switzerland also leads in the number of Germans who acquired new citizenship. In 2023, around 7,600 German citizens obtained Swiss citizenship. That is 15.2% less than a year earlier.

In second place was Sweden, where 1,120 Germans acquired Swedish citizenship, which is 14.7% less than the previous year. Norway recorded the opposite trend. The number of Germans who obtained Norwegian citizenship increased from 390 in 2022 to 660 in 2023.

Germany remains the main destination for workers from the EU

While some Germans seek a better life in Switzerland, Austria, or Spain, Germany itself remains the most important destination for workers from other member states of the European Union.

According to Eurostat data reported by Destatis, in 2025 around 7.3 million EU citizens worked in another member state of the Union, without the citizenship of that country. The largest number worked precisely in Germany, 2.6 million. They were followed by Spain with 1.0 million, Italy with 0.8 million, and France with 0.6 million employees from other EU member states.

What do these figures say?

The data show that European mobility is not limited only to movement from weaker to stronger economies. People move where they expect a better balance of income, security, language, and everyday adaptation. For Germans, these are most often Switzerland and Austria, while for millions of workers from the rest of the EU, Germany remains the main destination.

The decision to work or live in another country is rarely made solely because of salary. Language, distance from home, contract security, cost of living, and the feeling that a person can quickly find their footing in a new system are equally important.

Source of data: Germany's statistical office Destatis, based on data from Eurostat and the Swiss Federal Statistical Office.