Schwyz - Demographics

Demographics

Schwyz has a population (as of December 2011) of 14,331. As of 2008, 15.6% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (2000–2010) the population has changed at a rate of 3.4%. Migration accounted for 0.5%, while births and deaths accounted for 3.4%. Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks German (12,441 or 90.1%) as their first language, Serbo-Croatian is the second most common (378 or 2.7%) and Italian is the third (273 or 2.0%). There are 23 people who speak French and 25 people who speak Romansh.

As of 2008, the population was 49.9% male and 50.1% female. The population was made up of 5,824 Swiss men (42.2% of the population) and 1,058 (7.7%) non-Swiss men. There were 5,932 Swiss women (43.0%) and 988 (7.2%) non-Swiss women.0 Of the population in the municipality, 6,681 or about 48.4% were born in Schwyz and lived there in 2000. There were 2,195 or 15.9% who were born in the same canton, while 2,780 or 20.1% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 1,797 or 13.0% were born outside of Switzerland.

As of 2000, children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 25.6% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 60.3% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 14.1%.

As of 2000, there were 6,314 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 6,305 married individuals, 722 widows or widowers and 461 individuals who are divorced.

As of 2000, there were 5,250 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.5 persons per household. There were 1,582 households that consist of only one person and 536 households with five or more people. In 2000, a total of 4,968 apartments (90.3% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 375 apartments (6.8%) were seasonally occupied and 156 apartments (2.8%) were empty. As of 2009, the construction rate of new housing units was 4.8 new units per 1000 residents.

As of 2003 the average price to rent an average apartment in Schwyz was 1185.58 Swiss francs (CHF) per month (US$950, £530, €760 approx. exchange rate from 2003). The average rate for a one room apartment was 543.08 CHF (US$430, £240, €350), a two room apartment was about 904.87 CHF (US$720, £410, €580), a three room apartment was about 1068.78 CHF (US$860, £480, €680) and a six or more room apartment cost an average of 1461.34 CHF (US$1170, £660, €940). The average apartment price in Schwyz was 106.2% of the national average of 1116 CHF. The vacancy rate for the municipality, in 2010, was 0.25%.