CRIF AG has analyzed how many businesses were set up in the first five months of 2023, how many companies filed for bankruptcy in this period and how many businesses were completely removed from the register.
Slight decline in bankruptcy filings in some cantons
Across the whole of Switzerland, the level of bankruptcies rose by 2.3% from January to May. There was a slight decline in bankruptcy filings in some cantons: Neuchâtel (-31.1%), Geneva (-21.4%) and Ticino (-17.4%).
The highest number of bankruptcies were reported in the construction industry (546), followed by the food and drink sector (349) and the wholesale trade sector (246).
In percentage terms, there was a sharp increase in bankruptcy filings in advertising and market research (+51.7%), gardening and landscaping (+26.3%) and the retail trade sector (+18.9%).
More new start-ups, but a decline in growth
A total of 21,601 new businesses were set up throughout Switzerland. This represents an increase of 3.1% compared with the previous year. Over the same period, 12,584 companies were removed from the commercial register, which represents an increase of 7.3% in the number of companies removed compared with the previous year. The net growth in the number of companies thus declined slightly (-2.3%).
Most of the new entries were in the cantons of Zurich (3,994), Vaud (2,044) and Bern (1,813). Start-ups most frequently involved the retail trade sector (2,066), followed by the construction industry (1,729) and the management consultancy sector (1,701).
About the survey process
We have taken into consideration all those businesses that were newly added to the commercial register in the period from January 1, 2023 to May 31, 2023, together with all the businesses against whom bankruptcy proceedings were instigated.
