Switzerland Weighs World’s First Binding Population Cap Amid Backlash Against Immigration

Under the text of the initiative, the resident population must not exceed 10 million before 2050.

A flag flutters on the Swiss Parliament Building (Bundeshaus), after the weekly governmental meeting in Bern, Switzerland, on Nov. 27, 2019. Denis Balibouse/Reuters

Swiss voters head to the polls on Sunday to decide whether to cap the country’s permanent resident population at 10 million, in what observers describe as the first binding national population ceiling anywhere in the world.

It has also emerged as one of Europe’s most closely watched tests of public sentiment on immigration and national identity.