Turnout: 46.60%
About this election
The Swiss federal election of 22 October 2023 reversed much of the green wave of 2019 and restored the dominance of the right. The Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC) rebounded to 27.97% and 62 seats in the National Council, a gain of nine, while the Greens fell to 9.78% and 23 seats (down five) and the Green Liberals to 7.55% and 10 (down six) as climate slipped down the agenda. The Social Democrats edged up to 18.27% and 41 seats, FDP.The Liberals took 14.25% and 28, and the newly merged Centre (Die Mitte) won 14.06% and 29 seats — overtaking the FDP in seats for the first time to become the third force in the chamber. Turnout was 46.6%.
As in every federal election, the 200 members of the National Council were elected from the 26 cantons by open-list proportional representation in the twenty larger cantons (with panachage, cumulation and no threshold) and by plurality in the six single-member cantons. The Council of States (46 seats) was renewed separately under cantonal rules, with run-off second rounds in several cantons through November. The Centre party contesting in 2023 was the product of the 2021 merger of the Christian Democrats (CVP) and the Conservative Democrats (BDP). This page shows the National Council result.
The campaign was driven by concerns over immigration and asylum — Switzerland recorded high numbers of asylum applications in 2022–23 — alongside the rising cost of living, sharply increasing mandatory health-insurance premiums, energy security after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and relations with the European Union. These issues played to the strengths of the SVP, which campaigned on migration and purchasing power, while the receding salience of climate change cost the green parties the momentum they had enjoyed in 2019.
The SVP's recovery confirmed it as by far the largest party, while the near-tie between the FDP and the Centre — with the Centre taking more seats despite slightly fewer votes — marked a long-term reordering of the Swiss centre-right. The Social Democrats consolidated their second place, but the combined left-green vote fell back from its 2019 peak. The result restored a centre-right majority in the National Council.
In December 2023 the Federal Assembly re-elected the seven-member Federal Council, leaving the "magic formula" intact, with the SVP, SP and FDP holding two seats each and the Centre one. As ever in Switzerland, the change in parliamentary strength did not produce a change of government but fed into the consensus system through the executive's composition and the country's continuous programme of referendums. The 2023 result set the political backdrop for the federal popular votes of the subsequent years.
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (BFS/OFS) — bfs.admin.ch.
Compiled and reviewed by Bartłomiej Paruzel, Election Data Analyst, from official results. See our data methodology.