Demographics
Locarno has a population (as of December 2011) of 15,303. As of 2008, 33.9% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1997–2007) the population has changed at a rate of 3.7%.
Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks Italian (76.6%), with German being second most common (10.5%) and Serbo-Croatian being third (3.1%). Of the Swiss national languages (as of 2000), 1,528 speak German, 189 people speak French, 11,153 people speak Italian, and 27 people speak Romansh. The remainder (1,664 people) speak another language.
As of 2008, the gender distribution of the population was 46.5% male and 53.5% female. The population was made up of 4,421 Swiss men (29.1% of the population), and 2,636 (17.4%) non-Swiss men. There were 5,654 Swiss women (37.2%), and 2,474 (16.3%) non-Swiss women.
In 2008 there were 83 live births to Swiss citizens and 45 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 115 deaths of Swiss citizens and 33 non-Swiss citizen deaths. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 32 while the foreign population increased by 12. There were 14 Swiss men and 3 Swiss women who immigrated back to Switzerland. At the same time, there were 87 non-Swiss men and 78 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources, including moves across municipal borders) was an increase of 159 and the non-Swiss population change was an increase of 55 people. This represents a population growth rate of 1.4%.
The age distribution, as of 2009, in Locarno is; 1,205 children or 7.9% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 1,454 teenagers or 9.6% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 1,791 people or 11.8% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 2,002 people or 13.2% are between 30 and 39, 2,442 people or 16.1% are between 40 and 49, and 1,979 people or 13.0% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 1,767 people or 11.6% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 1,541 people or 10.1% are between 70 and 79, there are 1,004 people or 6.6% who are over 80.
As of 2000 the average number of residents per living room was 0.64 which is about equal to the cantonal average of 0.6 per room. In this case, a room is defined as space of a housing unit of at least 4 m2 (43 sq ft) as normal bedrooms, dining rooms, living rooms, kitchens and habitable cellars and attics. About 15.5% of the total households were owner occupied, or in other words did not pay rent (though they may have a mortgage or a rent-to-own agreement).
As of 2000, there were 6,730 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.1 persons per household. In 2000 there were 904 single family homes (or 42.1% of the total) out of a total of 2,147 inhabited buildings. There were 252 two family buildings (11.7%) and 480 multi-family buildings (22.4%). There were also 511 buildings in the municipality that were multipurpose buildings (used for both housing and commercial or another purpose).
The vacancy rate for the municipality, in 2008, was 0.63%. In 2000 there were 8,647 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was the 3 room apartment of which there were 3,068. There were 856 single room apartments and 877 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 6,709 apartments (77.6% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 1,695 apartments (19.6%) were seasonally occupied and 243 apartments (2.8%) were empty. As of 2007, the construction rate of new housing units was 10.5 new units per 1000 residents.
As of 2003 the average price to rent an average apartment in Locarno was 1046.19 Swiss francs (CHF) per month (US$840, £470, €670 approx. exchange rate from 2003). The average rate for a one room apartment was 611.61 CHF (US$490, £280, €390), a two room apartment was about 816.64 CHF (US$650, £370, €520), a three room apartment was about 1007.47 CHF (US$810, £450, €640) and a six or more room apartment cost an average of 1896.51 CHF (US$1520, £850, €1210). The average apartment price in Locarno was 93.7% of the national average of 1116 CHF.
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