Get projection parameters from FSO — get

Users who do not have the mandatory projection parameters for propop::propop() can use this convenience function to download them from the Federal Statistical Office (FSO). The parameters are only available on the level of cantons. For smaller-scale projections, the parameters must be scaled down. In addition to the parameters, the function also returns the projected population (i.e., number of people estimated in the FSO model released in 2025). All parameters and projections are from the FSO model published in 2025. The parameters are available for the years 2024-2055. The variables int_mothers and mig_nat_n are not directly available from the FSO. They are calculated within this function.

To get projection parameters, you must use the spelling defined in the corresponding FSO table. See vignette("prepare_data", package = "propop"). Inspecting the column 'valueTexts' in the following package data may also help:

data('stattab_101_snap')
data('stattab_102_snap')
data('stattab_103_snap')
data('stattab_106_snap')
data('stattab_109_snap')

Changes to the API interface may break this function. If problems occur, we recommend following the step-by-step procedure described in vignette("prepare_data", package = "propop").

Usage

get_parameters(
  number_fso_ref = "px-x-0104020000_101",
  number_fso_high = "px-x-0104020000_102",
  number_fso_low = "px-x-0104020000_103",
  number_fso_rates = "px-x-0104020000_109",
  number_fso_births = "px-x-0104020000_106",
  year_first,
  year_last,
  spatial_units
)

Source

Data obtained from the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO):

Arguments

number_fso_ref: character, px-x table ID for number parameters (reference scenario), defaults to "px-x-0104020000_101".
number_fso_high: character, px-x table ID for number parameters (high growth scenario), defaults to "px-x-0104020000_102".
number_fso_low: character, px-x table ID for for number parameters (low growth scenario, defaults to "px-x-0104020000_103".
number_fso_rates: character, px-x table ID for rate parameters, defaults to "px-x-0104020000_109".
number_fso_births: character, px-x table ID required to compute the share of Swiss newborns from non-Swiss mothers, defaults to "px-x-0104020000_106".
year_first: numeric, first year for which the parameters and projections are to be downloaded.
year_last: numeric, last year for which the parameters and projections are to be downloaded.
spatial_units: character vector, indicating at least one spatial entity for which the projection will be run. Typically a canton.

Value

A data frame with the rates and number of people from the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) required to project the population development of the requested spatial entities. For each of the four demographic groups (nationality x sex), there are 101 age classes, resulting in a total of 404 rows per requested year and spatial unit.

Demographic groups

The returned data frame includes parameters for each unique combination of the following demographic variables:

nat: ch = Swiss; int = foreign / international.
sex: f = female, m = male.
age: 101 one-year age classes, ranging from 0 to 100 (including those older than 100).

Parameters

The following parameters are included in the returned data frame:

start_n: numeric, number of people in the corresponding demographic group on 1st of January.
year: numeric, year of projection.
scen: character, projection scenario.
spatial_unit: character, indicating the user requested spatial unit(s).
birthrate: numeric, total number of live human births per 1,000 inhabitants. (formerly birth_rate).
int_mothers: numeric, proportion of children with Swiss nationality born to non-Swiss mothers (formerly births_int_ch).
mor: numeric, prospective mortality (probability of death).
emi_int: numeric, rate of people emigrating to other countries (formerly emi).
emi_nat: numeric, rate of people emigrating to other cantons (new parameter).
acq: numeric, rate of acquisition of Swiss citizenship.
imm_int_n: numeric, number of people immigrating from abroad (formelry imm_int).
imm_nat_n: numeric, number of people immigrating from other cantons (new parameter).
emi_nat_n: numeric, number of people emigrating to other cantons (parameter previously used to compute mig_nat_n).
mig_nat_n: numeric, national / inter-cantonal net migration (number of immigrants minus number of emigrants). (formerly mig_ch, will soon be obsolete and removed).

Projected population

n_projected is the number of people per demographic group and year on December 31 (as projected by the FSO in the 2025 model).

Details about calculated variables

births_int_ch is calculated by dividing the number of live newborns with Swiss citizenship born to non-Swiss mothers by the number of all live newborns born to non-Swiss mothers.

mig_ch is calculated as the difference between the immigration from other cantons and the emigration to other cantons.

Examples

if (FALSE) { # (Sys.getenv("RUN_EXPENSIVE_TESTS") == "true")
if (FALSE) { # \dontrun{
one_canton <- get_parameters(
  year_first = 2024,
  year_last = 2055,
  spatial_units = "Aargau"
)
two_cantons_4years <- get_parameters(
  year_first = 2025,
  year_last = 2028,
  spatial_units = c("Aargau", "Zug")
)
} # }
}