Schwyz in figures
A canton, looked at more closely
Drive through the Canton of Schwyz and you see mountains, lakes and historic village lanes. What you do not see: more than 167,000 inhabitants, over 22,000 registered companies and a road network that would stretch from Zurich to Bern almost seven times over. Schwyz is one of those places that are easy to underestimate. These figures invite you to look more closely.
The people
167,010 people call Schwyz home today. That is 32,116 more than in 2003, a growth of almost 24 per cent in two decades. By way of comparison: in that time the canton has gained a population larger than the entire town of Uster.
The largest municipality is not the capital but Freienbach on Lake Zurich with 16,972 inhabitants, just ahead of Einsiedeln (16,356) and the cantonal capital Schwyz (16,247). At the other end of the scale stands Riemenstalden: a quiet Alpine village that shows how great the differences within one and the same canton can be.
The gender ratio is also striking: with 85,700 men to 81,310 women, Schwyz is one of the few Swiss cantons with a male surplus. A pointer to the economic structure and to the character of a region in which construction, industry and the skilled trades have traditionally been strongly represented. And one more figure stands out: one person in four in the canton comes from abroad – the share of foreign nationals is 23.2 per cent.
What the names reveal
In the Canton of Schwyz people bear 10,802 different surnames. By far the most common: Kälin, with 2,748 bearers. It is followed by Betschart (2,060) and Schuler (1,945) – names deeply rooted in the history of this region that bear witness to a close sense of belonging grown over generations.
But the statistics also show something else: almost three quarters of all surnames, 7,888 to be exact, are borne by just three people in the canton. Behind them are families who have moved in, new citizens from abroad and all those who give the canton a face from all over the world.
How people live in Schwyz
There are 84,292 dwellings in the canton (as of 2024). In purely arithmetical terms that makes 1.14 dwellings per household – a pointer to vacancies, holiday homes and the varied living situations of the population.
15 per cent of all dwellings are larger than 160 square metres. Anyone wondering where the big villas stand will find the answer in Wollerau: there almost 26 per cent of all dwellings fall into this size class – an exceptional figure by European standards, not least connected with the municipality's low tax rates. The 74,118 private households present a modern picture: a third (33.6 per cent) are single-person households, and only 1.4 per cent number six or more people. The classic large family has become a rarity in the Canton of Schwyz too.
A business location with two faces
22,482 companies are entered in the commercial register in the Canton of Schwyz – more businesses than some small countries have inhabitants. There is one registered company for every 7.4 inhabitants. They are figures with two faces: that of the traditional Schwyz economy and that of the tax location.
The leader in company registrations is Freienbach with 5,364 registered businesses, in other words almost as many companies as inhabitants. Wollerau (2,450 companies) and Feusisberg (2,102) also stand out. Low tax rates and proximity to the Zurich financial centre have made these municipalities magnets for holding companies, foundations and asset managers.
The legal forms reflect this mix: 9,519 public limited companies and 8,336 limited liability companies dominate the picture, followed by 3,379 sole proprietorships and 440 foundations. A great deal of money also flows in from outside: in 2024 the canton imported goods worth 1,826.7 million francs – almost 35 per cent of them from Germany.
On the move in the canton
Schwyz is a canton on wheels. 111,175 passenger cars were registered at the beginning of 2025, that is 666 vehicles per 1,000 inhabitants – well above the Swiss average of around 570. Since 1990 the number of cars has more than doubled. Motorcycles are on the rise too: 16,940 are registered, a figure the canton's winding Alpine passes almost explain by themselves.
1,604 kilometres of roads link the canton's 30 municipalities. The longest road networks belong to Einsiedeln (213 km), Schwyz (134 km) and Küssnacht (122 km).
A canton of boat owners
Schwyz lies on Lake Lucerne, Lake Zurich, Lake Ägeri and other waters. No wonder, then, that water here is more than a backdrop: 5,331 boats were registered in the canton in 2025 – a record of one boat for every 31 inhabitants. With 4,382 motorboats, the engine clearly rules the water. More interesting is the trend: since 2016 the number of sailing boats has fallen from 1,005 to 786, a drop of 22 per cent. The wind is having a harder time of it.
Visiting Schwyz
636,053 overnight stays were counted in Schwyz hotels in 2024 – more than at any time since the previous record year of 2008 (664,238). Most guests come in summer: August is by far the strongest month for tourism, followed by September and July. Winter plays a comparatively modest role in the hotel trade.
A look across the decades shows that the number of arrivals has risen from 273,679 in 1992 to 337,325 in 2024, a growth of around 23 per cent. At the same time stays have become shorter – tourism is getting faster, even in the heart of Switzerland.
Education: women in front
Schwyz has seven secondary schools, from the venerable abbey school of Einsiedeln and the Gymnasium Immensee to the Obersee Bilingual School. In the 2025/26 school year 2,000 pupils attended these institutions – 60.3 per cent of them female. The most popular specialist subject is the natural sciences (336 pupils), followed by economics and law (265) and modern languages (238). 16.5 per cent of all secondary pupils live outside the canton – a sign that the region's schools enjoy a good reputation far beyond the cantonal borders.
More than mountains and history
Schwyz is a canton of contrasts: quiet Alpine valleys and international financial companies, sole traders and foundations, sailing boats and Ferrari engines. What the figures show is that this canton is richer, more many-layered and more surprising than the name might suggest at first glance. The canton that gave Switzerland its name deserves a second, closer look in the twenty-first century too.
Sources: Statistics Canton of Schwyz / data portal data.sz.ch.
