11 Astonishing Facts About the World’s Second-Richest Country

Covering just 160 square kilometers (roughly 62 square miles), Liechtenstein is the fourth smallest country in Europe—only Vatican City, Monaco, and San Marino are tinier. Its official language is German.

Schaan, the biggest municipality, is home to about 6,000 residents. The capital, Vaduz, is even smaller with around 5,400 people. To put it in perspective: a suburban high school in the U.S. can have more students than the capital of an entire country.

In 2018, Liechtenstein welcomed just 85,000 tourists. One reason? The country has no international airport, seaport, or major railway station. Travel blogger Nota Bene once joked that their entire stroll through Vaduz’s city center took only 20 minutes—and the café they stopped at only accepted cash.

That’s second only to Monaco. A third of Monaco’s residents are millionaires, but Liechtenstein isn’t far behind. Its wealth is powered by banking, electronics, metal production, pharmaceuticals, and even dental products. Low taxes and famously discreet banking laws have made it a magnet for outside capital.

Liechtenstein’s debt-to-GDP ratio is a mind-boggling 0.5%. For comparison, most major economies carry debts equal to 60–100% of their GDP or more.

Christoph Zeller, the former CEO of Ivoclar Vivadent (a dental product manufacturer), is worth about $3.1 billion. That’s roughly half of Liechtenstein’s $6.2 billion GDP. Imagine flossing your teeth with a fortune.

Instead, it relies on Switzerland for defense. The absence of a military occasionally leads to mix-ups: Swiss soldiers have accidentally wandered into Liechtenstein during training exercises more than once.

Liechtenstein has more jobs than people. As of 2016, 54% of workers commuted daily from Switzerland, Austria, or Germany. In other words, half the nation’s productivity comes from people who don’t actually live there.

That figure even included people on maternity leave. With a jobless rate of 2.1%, the country enjoys nearly full employment.

The closest one is in Zurich, about 90 minutes away by car. This logistical snag is a big reason why tourism remains relatively low.

Between 12:00 p.m. and 1:30 p.m., silence is golden. Locals are expected to avoid making noise, and after 10:00 p.m. you’d better keep the volume down unless you want a visit from the police.