Zug
Economy, taxes and industries
Economic snapshot
- GDP
- CHF 25.2 bn
- 3.2% of Swiss GDP · 2022p
- GDP per capita
- CHF 192,958
- Rank 2 of 26 · 2022p
- Enterprises
- 19,922
- 99.6% SMEs · 2024
- Jobs
- 135,123
- +2.6% vs. 2023 · 2024
- Unemployment
- 2.8%
- Aug. 2026 · Aug. 2025: 2.6%
- Median gross wage
- CHF 7,092
- CHF per month · Central Switzerland, 2024
Overview
Zug is Switzerland's third-smallest canton by area (239 km²) and one of its most productive economies. Its 135,018 residents (end of 2025) generated GDP of CHF 25.2 billion in 2022, 3.2% of the Swiss total. GDP per head reached CHF 192,958, second only to Basel-Stadt and more than twice the Swiss figure of CHF 90,131. Workplaces in the canton counted 135,123 jobs in 2024: +15.1% on 2019, the strongest five-year job growth of any canton, and +2.6% in 2024 alone.
The economy leans on trade and corporate services. Wholesale and retail trade, the category that also covers commodity trading, provides 16.2% of jobs. Legal, consulting, engineering and R&D services provide 14.6%, 1.6 times their national weight, and finance (7.4%) and IT (6.2%) are similarly over-represented. Glencore is based in Baar, Holcim in Zug, and the Crypto Valley blockchain cluster grew up around the Ethereum Foundation. Industry remains visible: electronics and precision instruments employ 5,973 people, 2.1 times the Swiss share, with Landis+Gyr in Cham and Roche Diagnostics and Siemens Healthineers in the Rotkreuz–Steinhausen area. V-ZUG is turning its factory site in Zug into the Tech Cluster Zug.
KPMG's 2026 survey puts Zug's maximum effective corporate tax rate at 11.71%, the second lowest after Lucerne, and its top income tax rate for individuals at 21.90%, the lowest of all 26 cantons. Unemployment was 2.8% in August 2026, up from 2.6% a year earlier and slightly below the Swiss rate of 3.0%. Company ownership is unusually dispersed: only 45.9% of Zug GmbHs belong to a single person, the second-lowest share in Switzerland, which reflects the canton's dense holding and group structures.
Location advantages
- Lowest top income tax rate for individuals in Switzerland (21.90%) and second-lowest corporate rate (11.71%) in KPMG's 2026 comparison
- Second-highest GDP per head of all cantons (CHF 192,958 in 2022) and the fastest job growth since 2019 (+15.1%)
- Dense base of headquarters and business services: legal, consulting, engineering and R&D jobs are 1.6 times the national share
- Industrial technology in Cham, Steinhausen and Rotkreuz, with Landis+Gyr, Siemens Healthineers and Roche Diagnostics
- Switzerland Innovation Park Central at the Suurstoffi site in Rotkreuz, next to the computer science school of the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts
Taxes 2026
- Max. effective corporate tax rate
- 11.71%
- 2025: 11.85%
- Corporate tax rank
- 2/26
- 1 = lowest rate
- Top income tax rate
- 21.90%
- Rank 1 of 26 (1 = lowest)
KPMG's Clarity on Swiss Taxes 2026 puts the maximum effective corporate income tax rate in Zug (federal, cantonal and communal taxes combined) at 11.71% (2025: 11.85%): rank 2 of 26, counting from the lowest rate (Swiss average: 14.43%). The maximum income tax rate for a single person, including federal tax, is 21.90%: the lowest of the 26 cantons (average: 33.04%).
Industry structure
| Sector | Jobs | Share | vs. CH |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wholesale, retail & motor trade | 21,901 | 16.2% | 1.5× |
| Legal, consulting, engineering & R&D | 19,740 | 14.6% | 1.6× |
| Staffing, facility & business support | 11,258 | 8.3% | 1.3× |
| Health & social care | 10,916 | 8.1% | 0.5× |
| Banking, insurance & financial services | 10,024 | 7.4% | 1.6× |
| Information, communication & IT | 8,441 | 6.2% | 1.7× |
| Construction & building trades | 7,492 | 5.5% | 0.8× |
| Education | 6,573 | 4.9% | 0.6× |
| Electronics, instruments & watches | 5,973 | 4.4% | 2.1× |
| Hotels & restaurants | 5,817 | 4.3% | 0.9× |
| Transport, logistics & postal services | 5,697 | 4.2% | 0.9× |
| Arts, recreation & personal services | 5,507 | 4.1% | 0.7× |
| Machinery, electrical & vehicle engineering | 2,532 | 1.9% | 0.7× |
| Real estate | 2,444 | 1.8% | 1.3× |
| Public administration | 2,430 | 1.8% | 0.5× |
| Agriculture, forestry & fishing | 1,789 | 1.3% | 0.5× |
| Textiles, wood, paper & printing | 1,430 | 1.1% | 0.8× |
| Food, beverages & tobacco | 1,303 | 1.0% | 0.6× |
| Plastics, metals & metal products | 1,128 | 0.8% | 0.3× |
| Energy, water, waste & mining | 991 | 0.7% | 0.7× |
| Chemicals & pharmaceuticals | 972 | 0.7% | 0.5× |
| Medical devices, furniture & other manufacturing | 748 | 0.6% | 0.8× |
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
Glencore AG
Commodity trading & mining
Baar
Roche Diagnostics International AG
Diagnostics
Risch-Rotkreuz
Siemens Healthineers International AG
Medical technology
Steinhausen
Holcim AG
Building materials
Zug
V-ZUG AG
Household appliances
Zug
Landis+Gyr AG
Smart metering
Cham
Johnson & Johnson AG
Pharmaceuticals
Zug
Zuger Kantonalbank
Cantonal bank
Zug
Stiftung Ethereum (Ethereum Foundation)
Blockchain foundation
Zug
Unlock succession and infrastructure data for Zug
Board paralysis risk, ownership structure and infrastructure for Zug. Subscribe free to the weekly Market Pulse.
Free weekly newsletter. Unsubscribe anytime.
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