Are 72% of prison inmates in Switzerland foreign?
US president Donald Trump told the UN that nearly three quarters of the Swiss prison population are not Swiss. Is he right?
In a recent speech to the UN, US president Donald Trump set out some remarkable figures on the proportion of inmates in European prisons who were foreign nationals.
Citing statistics from the Council of Europe, he references Greece, Germany and Austria, as having rates around 50%.
鈥淚n Switzerland, beautiful Switzerland,鈥 he said 鈥72% of the people in prisons are from outside of Switzerland.鈥
These numbers are correct, but why are the percentages so high 鈥 particularly in Switzerland?
Tim Harford speaks to Professor Marcelo Aebi, a criminologist from the University of Lausanne, who wrote the prisons report for the Council of Europe.
If you鈥檝e seen a number in the news you think we should take a look at, let us know: moreorless@bbc.co.uk
Presenter: Tim Harford
Producer: Tom Colls
Sound mix: Rod Farquhar
Editor: Richard Vadon
Last on
More episodes
Broadcasts
- Sat 11 Oct 2025 04:50GMT麻豆社 World Service Online, Americas and the Caribbean & UK DAB/Freeview only
- Sat 11 Oct 2025 17:50GMT麻豆社 World Service Online, Americas and the Caribbean, UK DAB/Freeview, News Internet & Europe and the Middle East only
- Sun 12 Oct 2025 04:50GMT麻豆社 World Service East and Southern Africa
- Sun 12 Oct 2025 08:50GMT麻豆社 World Service West and Central Africa
- Sun 12 Oct 2025 10:50GMT麻豆社 World Service except East and Southern Africa, Europe and the Middle East & West and Central Africa
- Sun 12 Oct 2025 23:50GMT麻豆社 World Service South Asia, News Internet & East Asia only & Live News
