Switzerland's Oldest Canton

The record: first for 65+, first for 80+

In Switzerland's age rankings there is a clear winner. Ticino leads Graubünden (23.6%) and Basel-Landschaft (23.3%) in the share of over-65s — and with 8.0% of people over 80 it pulls even further ahead of second place (Basel-Landschaft, 7.4%). This is not a one-year fluke: it is the demographic structure of a canton where the large cohorts have already entered the age of care, while young adults leave for the economic centres north of the Alps.

#			Share 80+
1	Ticino24.0 % are 65+		8.0 %
2	Basel-Country23.3 % are 65+		7.4 %
3	Schaffhausen22.5 % are 65+		6.7 %
4	Basel-City19.8 % are 65+		6.7 %
5	Grisons23.6 % are 65+		6.6 %
6	Bern22.4 % are 65+		6.6 %
7	Jura22.8 % are 65+		6.5 %
8	Nidwalden23.2 % are 65+		6.3 %
9	Uri22.6 % are 65+		6.3 %
10	Neuchâtel20.1 % are 65+		6.3 %
11	Appenzell Inner Rhodes21.5 % are 65+		6.1 %
12	Glarus21.9 % are 65+		6.0 %
13	Solothurn21.4 % are 65+		6.0 %
14	Appenzell Outer Rhodes21.7 % are 65+		5.9 %
15	Valais20.9 % are 65+		5.8 %
16	Obwalden21.5 % are 65+		5.6 %
17	St. Gallen19.5 % are 65+		5.6 %
18	Geneva16.6 % are 65+		5.5 %
19	Lucerne19.0 % are 65+		5.4 %
20	Zug18.5 % are 65+		5.4 %
21	Zurich17.5 % are 65+		5.4 %
22	Schwyz19.8 % are 65+		5.2 %
23	Thurgau19.7 % are 65+		5.2 %
24	Aargau19.2 % are 65+		5.2 %
25	Vaud17.0 % are 65+		5.2 %
26	Fribourg17.1 % are 65+		4.5 %

Share of the population aged 80+ in the permanent resident population, end-2024 (BFS STATPOP, observed). Subline: share 65+. Ticino tops both rankings — 80+ (8.0%) and 65+ (24.0%).

On the map, Ticino is Switzerland's darkest corner. And the comparison with the national average shows how far ahead it is: today Switzerland counts 5.8% of people over 80; according to the BFS reference scenario it will only reach Ticino's current share (8.0%) around 2040. In other words: Ticino lives the demography of the whole country some fifteen years in advance — practical consequences included.

And the wave does not stop: by 2050, Ticino's over-80s grow by a further +85%, from 28,637 to around 53,000 (BFS reference scenario). That is slower growth than in today's young cantons — Thurgau, Obwalden, Fribourg, as shown in our Care-Pressure Index — precisely because Ticino is already far ahead. But in absolute terms it means almost doubling, within 25 years, the population most in need of care.

Inside the canton: where ageing has already arrived

The cantonal average hides deep differences between the eight districts. At the top sits the Blenio valley: 28.2% over 65 and 9.9% over 80 — almost one person in ten. Right behind it, however, is not another remote valley but the district of Locarno: 64,334 inhabitants, 28.1% over 65 and 9.2% over 80 — Ticino's ageing is not just an alpine phenomenon, it also lives by the lake. Leventina follows (27.8%).

At the other extreme, Bellinzona is the youngest district (21.0% over 65, 6.8% over 80) — younger even than quite a few Swiss cantons — and Lugano (22.7%), with its 154,938 inhabitants, keeps the cantonal average down. The result is a two-speed canton: districts where the demand for care is already what Switzerland will know by mid-century, and urban centres rejuvenated by jobs and immigration. For those who organise care — municipalities, home-care services, families — the difference is not statistical: it is the number of carers that will be needed, household by household.

Ticino cares at home — more than anyone else

To the question “institution or home?” Ticino has already given its answer. In 2024, home help and care reached 24,729 clients — 83% of them over 65 — with more than 2 million hours of nursing and care services: since 2011, clients have grown by +134%, more than the national average (+107%). And the intensity is off the scale: 82 hours per client against the Swiss average of 60; 23.5 hours per resident over 65, against 14.5.

The mirror of this choice is the nursing homes: Ticino keeps 169 beds per 1,000 people over 80 against the Swiss average of 193 — and fills them to 94% (4,847 beds, average resident age 86.2). The cantonal plan for 2021–2030 foresees 1,180 new beds, but the arithmetic of the wave is clear: if the 80+ grow by 85% and the beds by a fraction, the difference is cared for at home. All this while Spitex is already at a national record — 25.6 million hours in 2024, +10.2%, the strongest increase since 2011 — and the market is changing shape: in 2021, Ticino became the first canton where private for-profit Spitex providers overtook the non-profit organisations in hours delivered.

The bill: legal live-in carer, agency or nursing home

The grey zone: who cares for the homes of the oldest canton

Ticino shows Switzerland its own future: more elderly people, fewer beds, care shifting into the home. Whether those who provide it have a contract, AHV and insurance — or remain invisible — is the real social-policy choice of the next 25 years.

Surprising findings