Up to World War II Liechtenstein was a rather poor country predominantly based on agriculture. Unemployment was prevalent, consequently many people from Liechtenstein left the country in order to work in seasonal employment abroad or they emigrated. Popular destinations of emigration were first of all the United States of America, Switzerland, and Austria. In the meantime the situation has changed into its opposite. Liechtenstein offers almost as many workplaces as there are inhabitants and is a magnetic regional pole of growth attracting the major part of the workforce from abroad.

Liechtenstein's economy developed significantly from the 1940s onwards. A successful and almost exclusively export-orientated industry emerged. While there was clearly too little labour until the 1940s, by 1950 there was already full employment, so that all jobseekers found work. In order to continue to grow, Liechtenstein companies were increasingly reliant on foreign labour with different educational backgrounds. The result was strong immigration. Since the 1960s, there have been more foreign workers in Liechtenstein than nationals. Immigration led to fears of foreign infiltration among the population. Settlement was restricted by law from 1962. As the economy could not and cannot do without foreign labour, the importance of cross-border commuters increased. According to the Office for Statistics, the number of commuters (mostly from Switzerland and Austria) was 56.8 per cent in 2022. A total of 42,514 employees were registered.

According to the Office for Statistics, a total of 43,162 people were employed in Liechtenstein in 2023. At 57%, significantly more than half of employees commute to their workplace in Liechtenstein from abroad, with 60% of them residing in Switzerland, 36% residing in Austria and 4% residing in another country.

At the end of 2023, a total of 46,040 full-time and part-time jobs were recorded in Liechtenstein, which corresponds to an increase of 1.7% compared to the 45,274 jobs at the end of 2022. At the same time, 5,508 companies were counted in Liechtenstein, 1.5% more than in the previous year.

Liechtenstein is now one of the richest countries in the world with a gross domestic product of CHF 7 billion (Office for Statistics, 2022).

References:

• Biedermann Klaus, Büchel Donat, Burgmeier Markus (2012): „Wege in die Gegenwart“ (2012). Amtlicher Lehrmittelverlag Vaduz.