CRIF AG has looked at how many new businesses were established in the 2nd quarter and how many companies went out of business. All in all, 11,413 companies were set up in Switzerland during this time. This is 5.3% fewer compared with the 2nd quarter of the previous year. 7,065 companies were also deleted from the Commercial Register during the same period. This represents 547 fewer deletions than in the same period of the previous year. After a drastic reduction in the number of companies being set up in some places in April and May, June saw a record total of 4,486 start-ups. This represents a growth of 24% compared with June 2019, when 3,616 new businesses were established.
Most of the new company entries were registered in the Cantons of Zurich (1,951), Bern (1,030) and Vaud (937). On the other hand, the steepest fall was reported by Ticino, with 22.3% fewer business start-ups, and by the French-speaking Swiss Cantons of Geneva (-21.2%), Vaud (-18.3%) and Neuchâtel (15.3%). This is another consequence of the corona crisis, as these areas were affected more badly by the virus.
The portfolio of existing companies grew by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter (this figure was still around 0.7% in the 1st quarter). The highest growth was reported by the Cantons of Appenzell Innerrhoden, Appenzell Ausserrhoden and Uri, at 0.9%. The Cantons of Schaffhausen, Glarus, Ticino and Obwalden all either reported no growth at all, or even a slightly negative growth.
A look at the individual sectors reveals that start-ups were most frequent in the retail trade (872), followed by the construction sector (830) and the management consultancy sector (773), though the management consultancy sector and the construction sector did report a fall compared with the 2nd quarter of 2019.
The largest number of company liquidations was experienced in the construction sector (635), followed by the retail trade (634) and the wholesale trade (585). Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, however, the company liquidations were fewer, except in the financial sector.
About the survey process
All companies that were newly entered in the Commercial Register between 1 April 2020 and 30 June 2020 as well as all companies that were deleted from the Commercial Register during this period were taken into account. For example, a company can be deleted by default, when the bankruptcy proceedings are closed, at the end of the liquidation period, then in the case of mergers or in the case of company tasks due to the lack of succession regulation.
The full analysis can be requested from presse.ch@crif.com.
