How many companies are there in Nidwalden?

According to the Federal Statistical Office (STATENT 2024), Nidwalden had 3,923 enterprises. Its 4,268 workplaces employed 25,999 people.

What is the GDP of Nidwalden?

Nidwalden’s GDP was CHF 3.3 billion in 2022 (provisional Federal Statistical Office figure), 0.4% of Swiss GDP, with real growth of 3.6%. GDP per capita was CHF 74,952, rank 17 of 26 cantons.

What is the unemployment rate in Nidwalden?

SECO registered an unemployment rate of 1.2% in Nidwalden in August 2026, with 309 people registered as unemployed (August 2025: 1.1%).

All cantons

Nidwalden

Canton

Nidwalden

Economy, taxes and industries

Population 2025 45,664GDP 2022 CHF 3.3 bnCorporate tax 2026 11.97%

Economic snapshot

GDP: CHF 3.3 bn; 0.4% of Swiss GDP · 2022p
GDP per capita: CHF 74,952; Rank 17 of 26 · 2022p
Enterprises: 3,923; 2024
Jobs: 25,999; +2.3% vs. 2023 · 2024
Unemployment: 1.2%; Aug. 2026 · Aug. 2025: 1.1%
Median gross wage: CHF 7,092; CHF per month · Central Switzerland, 2024

Overview

Nidwalden is home to 45,664 people and 25,999 jobs on the southern shore of Lake Lucerne. GDP was CHF 3.3 billion in 2022, or CHF 74,952 per head. Employment grew by 2.3% in 2024 alone, the third-fastest rate of the 26 cantons, and by 5.7% since 2019. Unemployment stood at 1.2% in August 2026.

No other canton depends as much on machinery, electrical and vehicle engineering. The sector provides 13.9% of all jobs, 5.4 times the Swiss share and the highest concentration in the country, and employment in it rose by 30.8% between 2019 and 2024. The main reason is Pilatus Aircraft in Stans, which builds turboprop and business aircraft. The elevator and escalator group Schindler has its holding company in Hergiswil. Legal, consulting and engineering services (9.8%) and hotels and restaurants (6.4%) are also above the Swiss average.

Nidwalden has the third-lowest maximum effective corporate tax rate in Switzerland in KPMG's 2026 comparison, 11.97%, and a top income tax rate of 25.28%. In ValIndex's ownership study, 64.0% of Nidwalden GmbHs belong to a single person, the highest share of any canton, although the sample is small.

Location advantages

Highest concentration of machinery, electrical and vehicle engineering jobs of any canton (13.9% of employment)
Third-lowest maximum effective corporate tax rate in Switzerland (11.97%)
Aircraft manufacturing at Pilatus in Stans, with the Buochs airfield
Third-fastest job growth of the 26 cantons in 2024 (+2.3%)
On the A2 Gotthard motorway, about 15 minutes from Lucerne

Taxes 2026

Max. effective corporate tax rate: 11.97%; 2025: 11.97%
Corporate tax rank: 3/26; 1 = lowest rate
Top income tax rate: 25.28%; Rank 5 of 26 (1 = lowest)

KPMG's Clarity on Swiss Taxes 2026 puts the maximum effective corporate income tax rate in Stans (federal, cantonal and communal taxes combined) at 11.97% (2025: 11.97%): rank 3 of 26, counting from the lowest rate (Swiss average: 14.43%). The maximum income tax rate for a single person, including federal tax, is 25.28%: rank 5 of 26, counting from the lowest rate (average: 33.04%).

Industry structure

Sector	Workplaces	Jobs	Share	vs. CH	2019–24
Machinery, electrical & vehicle engineering	60	3,624	13.9%	5.4×	+30.8%
Health & social care	411	2,970	11.4%	0.8×	+15.2%
Wholesale, retail & motor trade	524	2,877	11.1%	1.0×	−5.7%
Legal, consulting, engineering & R&D	707	2,550	9.8%	1.1×	+11.5%
Construction & building trades	278	1,804	6.9%	1.1×	−0.8%
Hotels & restaurants	159	1,662	6.4%	1.4×	−5.5%
Education	177	1,360	5.2%	0.7×	+9.3%
Arts, recreation & personal services	441	1,247	4.8%	0.9×	+1.2%
Agriculture, forestry & fishing	415	1,170	4.5%	1.6×	−1.8%
Transport, logistics & postal services	87	1,039	4.0%	0.8×	+3.1%
Staffing, facility & business support	164	987	3.8%	0.6×	−11.6%
Public administration	57	893	3.4%	0.9×	+13.5%
Banking, insurance & financial services	216	868	3.3%	0.7×	+7.6%
Plastics, metals & metal products	45	722	2.8%	1.2×	−8.1%
Textiles, wood, paper & printing	68	626	2.4%	1.9×	−4.9%
Real estate	197	479	1.8%	1.4×	+9.9%
Information, communication & IT	151	360	1.4%	0.4×	0.0%
Food, beverages & tobacco	32	264	1.0%	0.6×	+7.8%
Energy, water, waste & mining	24	255	1.0%	0.9×	+17.0%
Electronics, instruments & watches	6	107	0.4%	0.2×	−16.4%
Medical devices, furniture & other manufacturing	24	70	0.3%	0.4×	−6.7%
Chemicals & pharmaceuticals	0	59	0.2%	0.2×	+20.4%

BFS STATENT 2024; jobs are counted at the workplace. “vs. CH” divides the sector’s share of jobs in the canton by its share in Switzerland (1.0× = national average).

Key employers

PILATUS Flugzeugwerke AG

Aircraft manufacturing

Stans

Schindler Holding AG

Elevators & escalators

Hergiswil

Nidwaldner Kantonalbank

Cantonal bank

Stans

Spital Nidwalden AG

Hospitals & healthcare

Stans

Succession & ownership

Board paralysis risk: 15.0%; 25 of 167 audited companies · Rank 16 of 26 (1 = highest)
Single-owner GmbHs: 64.0%; 87 of 136 GmbHs · Rank 1 of 26 (1 = highest)

Small sample: read the rankings with caution.

ValIndex's national board-paralysis study (June 2026) covers 167 audited companies registered in Nidwalden. For 25 of them (15.0%), no one would be left able to sign for the company if the principal signatory died: the 11th-lowest share of the 26 cantons (Switzerland: 32%). Of 136 substantive GmbHs with a registered seat in Nidwalden, 64.0% belong to a single person (the highest share of the 26 cantons; Switzerland: 55.5%), according to ValIndex's July 2026 ownership study. Both figures rest on small samples and should be read with caution.

Board paralysis study (June 2026) →Who owns Swiss companies? (July 2026) →

Infrastructure

Airports

Buochs airfield airfield

The A2 Gotthard motorway runs through Nidwalden from Hergiswil via Stans to the Seelisberg tunnel. The Zentralbahn links Stans with Lucerne and continues to Engelberg, and lake steamers serve Beckenried and Buochs. Pilatus's factory adjoins the Buochs airfield; the nearest international airport is Zurich.

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Data vintages

Population: BFS STATPOP, end of 2025
GDP: BFS cantonal GDP, 2022 (provisional)
Enterprises, jobs, sectors: BFS STATENT 2024
Unemployment: SECO, August 2026
Wages: BFS Swiss Earnings Structure Survey 2024, major regions
Taxes: KPMG Clarity on Swiss Taxes 2026
Succession & ownership: ValIndex studies, June and July 2026

Sources

BFS – Cantonal GDP by large region and canton, 2008–2022p (published 28 Oct 2024)BFS – Cantonal GDP per capita, 2008–2022p BFS – Cantonal GDP: revised series due October 2026 BFS – STATENT 2024 release (20 Aug 2026)BFS STAT-TAB – Workplaces and jobs by canton and NOGA division (STATENT)BFS STAT-TAB – Enterprises by canton and size class (STATENT)BFS STAT-TAB – Permanent resident population by canton (STATPOP)BFS STAT-TAB – Median gross monthly wage by large region (LSE 2024)SECO – Labour market situation, August 2026 KPMG – Clarity on Swiss Taxes 2026 (19 May 2026)ValIndex Research – Boardroom Paralysis in Switzerland (June 2026)ValIndex Research – Who Owns Switzerland's Companies? (July 2026)Zefix – Central Business Name Index (register checks of named companies)Canton of Nidwalden

ValIndex Intelligence · Alain Walder, M.A. HSG|Updated 2026-09|14 sources cited

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