Demographics
St. Gallen has a population (as of 31 December 2011) of 73,500. As of 2007, about 27.5% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Of the foreign population, (as of 2000), 2,363 are from Germany, 3,691 are from Italy, 7,111 are from ex-Yugoslavia, 794 are from Austria, 1,060 are from Turkey, and 4,405 are from another country. Over the last 10 years, the population has grown at a rate of 0.7%. Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks German (83.0%), with Italian being second most common (3.7%) and Serbo-Croatian being third (3.7%). Of the Swiss national languages (as of 2000), 60,297 speak German, 575 people speak French, 2,722 people speak Italian, and 147 people speak Romansh.
The age distribution, as of 2000, in St.Gallen is; 6,742 children or 9.3% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 7,595 teenagers or 10.5% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 12,574 people or 17.3% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 11,735 people or 16.2% are between 30 and 39, 9,535 people or 13.1% are between 40 and 49, and 8,432 people or 11.6% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 6,461 people or 8.9% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 5,633 people or 7.8% are between 70 and 79, there are 3,255 people or 4.5% who are between 80 and 89, and there are 655 people or 0.9% who are between 90 and 99, and 9 people or 0.0% who are 100 or more.
In 2000 there were 16,166 persons (or 22.3% of the population) who were living alone in private dwellings. There were 17,137 (or 23.6%) persons who were part of a couple (married or otherwise committed) without children, and 27,937 (or 38.5%) who were part of a couple with children. There were 4,533 (or 6.2%) people who lived in single parent home, while there are 419 persons who were adult children living with one or both parents, 475 persons who lived in a household made up of relatives, 2,296 who lived household made up of unrelated persons, and 3,663 who are either institutionalized or live in another type of collective housing.
In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SP which received 25.4% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP (23.2%), the CVP (17.3%) and the FDP (15.3%).
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