The Migrant Mortality Penalty in a Pandemic: Disparities in COVID-19 Mortality Among Foreign Residents in Switzerland, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has widened the gap in mortality between different population groups. While socioeconomic status has been shown to be an important determinant of mortality, the relationship between migration status and mortality risk remains unclear. The objective of this paper is to explain whether and why foreign populations had a higher risk of mortality than Swiss nationals during the initial outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Switzerland. We use original linked data to measure the risk of COVID-19 mortality for different groups of foreigners, compared to Swiss nationals, using logistic regression. We find that the risk of death from COVID-19 in 2020 was significantly higher for some groups of foreign nationals—but not all groups—compared to Swiss nationals. Increased mortality is observed among foreign communities who have been living in Switzerland for more than 20 years, notably, Italians, people of Balkan origin, and Latin Americans. For these three communities, we suggest that high mortality is due to a combination of overexposure, for socioeconomic reasons, and reduced access to health systems. These findings contribute to the understanding of migrant health disparities during pandemics and inform future public health interventions.