Frontier workers in Switzerland: updated data for the decade (cross-border guide)

Context

In a nutshell

• Number of border crossers from Italy: +20,000 units from 2015 to 2025.
• Total workers with G permit: 91,246 in the last quarter of 2025.
• 22% growth in Ticino, +80.4% outside the canton.
• Lombardy remains the main region of origin.

• What: Frontier statistical analysis with G permit
• When: Period 2015-2025
• Where: Switzerland (Ticino, Graubünden, Valais)
• Who: Federal Statistical Office (BFS/UST)
• Amount: 91,246 G permits registered at the end of 2025

The evolution of the frontier phenomenon in Switzerland has undergone significant transformations in the last decade, as evidenced by the updated data released by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO/BFS). By consulting the updated database, which now includes detailed quarterly information broken down by sex, place of residence and canton of employment, a picture of steady expansion emerges. Between 2015 and 2025, the total number of workers with a G permit from Italy increased by more than 20,000 units, marking an increase of 30%. It went from 70,157 border crossers registered in the first quarter of 2015 to 91,246 registered in the last quarter of last year.

The territorial distribution of workers

Although Ticino remains the hub of commuting activity from the nearby Peninsula, data analysis reveals an expanding dynamic in other areas of the Confederation as well. Ten years ago, about 7,000 workers

Operational details

Analysis of Provincial Evolution

Approfondendo i dati regionali, emergono dinamiche differenziate. In Piemonte, la crescita totale è stata di 2.400 unità, con un incremento di poco più di 700 lavoratori attivi in Ticino. Il Verbano-Cusio-Ossola si conferma la provincia piemontese di maggior provenienza, passando da circa 6.200 frontalieri nel 2015 a quasi 8 mila. In Lombardia, la situazione è più articolata: il numero totale di permessi G è salito da 59 mila a quasi 75 mila, con un incremento di 16 mila persone. Di questi, i lavoratori occupati in Ticino sono passati da 55.500 a 68.300, una crescita del 23%.

Le province di Como e Varese si confermano i principali bacini di provenienza. Da Como giungono quotidianamente in Svizzera circa 32.800 lavoratori, di cui 32.200 in Ticino. Varese segue con 31.900 totali, di cui 31.400 nel cantone. Sondrio gioca un ruolo chiave per i Grigioni, con 5.200 lavoratori, mentre l'impatto in Ticino è limitato a 650 unità. Anche Milano e la Brianza mostrano segnali interessanti: oltre 2 mila frontalieri risiedono a Milano, quasi un migliaio a Monza e Brianza e 700 a Lecco.

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Key points

For workers who intend to operate in Switzerland, it is essential to understand the administrative procedures and tax implications. The management of the G permit, withholding at source, and compliance with the applicable regulations require constant attention to updates from the Federal Administration of Contributions (AFC/ESTV). Switzerland, although not an EU member, has consolidated over time an infrastructure for monitoring labor flows that allows for constant analysis of demand and supply on the domestic market.

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Source: cdt.ch