Valais

Valais follows the upper Rhône valley from Lake Geneva to the Furka Pass and is bilingual, French-speaking in the west and German-speaking in the east. It has 376,113 residents, 202,200 jobs and 29,017 enterprises. GDP was CHF 21.8 billion in 2022 and grew by 5.2% in real terms, the third-strongest rate of the 26 cantons, although GDP per head of CHF 61,387 was the second-lowest. Employment has grown fast: by 10.8% between 2019 and 2024, second only to Zug, and by 1.7% in 2024. Unemployment was 3.1% in August 2026.

Tourism, construction and a growing life-sciences industry drive the economy. Hotels and restaurants employ 19,183 people, 9.5% of all jobs and the second-highest share of any canton, with resorts such as Zermatt, Verbier, Crans-Montana and Saas-Fee. Construction (1.4 times the Swiss share), agriculture (1.9 times, including Switzerland's largest wine-growing area) and energy (1.6 times, with the Grande Dixence hydropower scheme) are also above average. Chemicals and pharmaceuticals employ 8,222 people, 2.9 times the Swiss share and the third-highest concentration, after employment in the sector grew by 41.2% in five years, largely at Lonza's biomanufacturing site in Visp; the Monthey chemical site is operated by CIMO, and Constellium rolls aluminium in Sierre.

KPMG puts the maximum effective corporate tax rate at 17.12% for 2026, the third-highest in Switzerland, with a lower rate on smaller profits, and the top income tax rate at 36.50%. In ValIndex's board-paralysis study, 1,155 of 2,530 audited Valais companies (45.7%) would be left without anyone able to sign if the principal signatory died, the third-highest share of any canton.