Open Data Insight of the Day

Laufen is a municipality in the Bezirk Laufen, situated at an altitude of 347 meters above sea level and covering a total surface area of 1,140 hectares. Figure 1 shows the municipality on the map, and Table 2 summarizes its key features.

The text does not provide specific historical information about the municipality of Laufen. It mentions that "Laufen" can refer to a surname and various places, including municipalities and cities, but does not elaborate on the history of any particular location named Laufen. Therefore, no historical summary can be derived from the provided text. More information can be found on its Wikipedia page at https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laufen.

In 2024, Laufen had a population of 6,078 people, ranking it 17th in the canton by total population. The population consists of 4,277 Swiss citizens and 1,801 foreigners, with foreigners making up 29.63 percent of the population, the 12th highest proportion in the canton. The age distribution shows 1,023 young people aged 0 to 17, 3,804 working-age adults between 18 and 65, and 1,251 older adults over 65. The gender ratio is nearly balanced, with 3,078 women and 3,000 men. Table 2 shows the population by age groups since 2005.

Of its 1,140-hectare total surface, 20.0 percent is settlement area, 25.6 percent is agricultural land, and 53.2 percent is forest, with the remaining 1.2 percent classified as unproductive surface.

Laufen ranks 15th in the canton for total tax revenue. The municipal tax multiplier and its rank among the 86 municipalities are not provided in the data.

In 2022, Laufen's total energy consumption was distributed across several carriers, with natural gas being the largest at 52,576.2 MWh, followed by electricity at 42,360.6 MWh, heating oil at 28,378.5 MWh, ambient heat at 6,988.9 MWh, wood at 5,489.7 MWh, photovoltaics at 5,226.0 MWh, liquefied gas at 604.9 MWh, and thermal solar energy at 478.7 MWh. Electricity consumption per capita was 7.1 MWh, ranking Laufen 10th highest in the canton. This places it in the top 10 municipalities for per capita electricity use, which can often be influenced by industrial activity.

As of 2026, Laufen had a vehicle stock of 3,224 passenger cars and delivery vans. Of these, 2,763 were powered by combustion engines, mainly petrol or diesel, and 461 were electric vehicles, representing 14.3 percent of the total stock. This data is shown in Table 3.

In 2024, Laufen's waste recycling performance varied by category. For glass, recycling was 15.0 kg per capita, ranking 73rd in the canton. For green waste, it was 88.0 kg per capita, ranking 46th. For household and bulky waste, it was 150.0 kg per capita, ranking 20th. For oils, it was 2.0 kg per capita, ranking 2nd. For paper and cardboard, it was 8.0 kg per capita, ranking 81st. For tinplate and aluminum, it was 2.0 kg per capita, ranking 16th. With two categories, oils and tinplate/aluminum, ranked within the top 10, Laufen is overall among the leading municipalities in recycling performance. Table 4 provides total recycled waste, recycled waste per capita, and canton-wide comparison values.