Today, the small Canton of Zug is a sought-after place of residence, an attractive living space, and a successful business area. The foundations for this were laid in legislation of the 1920s. Like the pioneer Canton Glarus, the Canton of Zug lowered tax charges for holding and domiciled companies. The tax law revision after the Second World War especially benefitted companies.
From poorhouse to the richest canton
The business-friendly tax policy of the canton was effective, and Zug transformed itself from being the poorhouse to the richest canton in Switzerland in 1990. Even in the sixties, Zug had the highest per capita debt, and the average income was below the national average. Today, Zug pays the most into the inter-cantonal financial compensation scheme, NFA (approximately 300 million CHF = 2,042 CHF per capita). Tax expenses are only about half the Swiss average, and the national income per capita is among the highest in Switzerland. As of 2011, Zug has an estimated GDP per capita of $110,000 (US).
At the end of 2010, there were nearly 30,000 companies in the canton, of which 17,000 were stock exchange-listed companies. Of the approximately 83,000 jobs, nearly three quarters were in the service sector (agriculture: 2.2%, industry: 24.8%, trade and service sector: 73%). Every day about 37,000 people come to Zug to work, 12,000 of whom are from the canton of Lucerne.
Largest private employers
1 Siemens Building Technologies, Zug Building 2�223
2 Roche Group, Rotkreuz/Cham Pharma/Diagnostics 1�520
3 V-Zug AG, Zug Household appliances 1�498
4 Cooperative Migros Luzern, Ebikon Retail trade 1�124
5 Johnson & Johnson, Zug Pharma/Diagnostics 750
6 Glencore International AG, Baar Commodity Trading 487
As a low tax region, Zug is home to corporate offices for a number of large and small companies. Even though Zug has a population of about 25,000 there are about
