Swiss vote against population cap proposal

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Swiss voters have decided not to cap the country’s population at 10m, with 54% voting against the initiative. The idea was put forward by the Swiss People’s Party, an anti-immigration outfit that previously forced a ban on the construction of minarets. It claimed the limit would alleviate pressures on public services and housing, but opponents successfully campaigned against the idea by pointing to Brexit. The proposal would have forced Switzerland to end freedom of movement with the EU if the threshold was reached by 2050, choking off the pipeline of skilled workers and undermining its trade pact with the bloc. According to one estimate, it would have knocked $628bn off the economy over two decades. Switzerland’s population has grown by nearly 25% this century, one of the fastest rises on the continent, but it is still less densely populated than the EU average, and most immigrants are from elsewhere in Europe.