Liechtenstein - Industry

About one-third of the nearly 23,000 working people of Liechtenstein are employed in industrial establishments. Due to the favorable economic conditions, an efficient, export-oriented high-tech industrial manufacturing sector developed over the last decades of the 20th century. Manufacturing, reported jointly with construction and trade, was responsible for nearly 45 percent of the jobs and the GDP by 2000 and a large percentage of the country's exports. Electronics, metal manufacturing, textiles, ceramics, pharmaceuticals, food products and beverages, and precision instruments manufacture are all well developed. The fact that Liechtenstein's economy exports so much is largely due to its high-tech manufacturing sector that accounts for the majority of its exports.

Among the most important domestic manufacturers are the Hilti Corporation, a large international supplier of rail anchors and anchor installation services to the rail transport industry, and electrical equipment; Ivoclar-Vivadent, developer and distributor of well-regarded products for prosthetic, restorative, and preventive dentistry; Balzers-Bal-Tec AG, manufacturers of electron microscopy preparation products for biological specimens; Fancoldi R.T., gem industry specialists, producing colored diamonds; and Aqualine, a major Austrian Alps mineral water bottling company.

Construction is also an important contributor to the economy, although its scope is necessarily limited. According to the building statistics, in the last quarter of 2000, 115 new buildings were granted permits. As compared to the same period of 1999, this corresponded to 39 permits less, but the construction volume increased by 5.6 percent and construction costs increased by 17.2 percent to 163.3 million Swiss francs. Building activities generally shifted from housing developments and public buildings towards industry and trade. The construction volume in that sector increased by 110.4 percent, while a decrease of 93.4 percent was registered for public buildings.