Growth in new businesses strongest in Schwyz and Zug

Over the course of the past year, the number of newly-established businesses grew by 50,544 in Switzerland, as CRIF reported in a press release on its latest study. In the year before, CRIF had logged 46,842 new entries. In 2021, the number of liquidations was 28,215, which is a decline of 9.8 percent on the previous year. Net, the number of newly-established businesses in Switzerland therefore grew by 3.4 percent.

At 4.7 percent each, the most powerful net growth occurred in the cantons of Schwyz and Zug, which are both in the Greater Zurich Area. They are followed by Thurgau in third place with 4.5 percent, while Solothurn ranks fourth with 4.0 percent growth. While the canton of Zurich is average for Switzerland with net growth of 3.4 percent, it registered the largest number of new entries in the Commercial Register in 2021 of 8,864. The cantons of Vaud and Bern follow in the next two spots, with 4,825 and 4,401 new companies, respectively.

Percentage-wise, the strongest growth of newly established businesses was recorded by three cantons in the Greater Zurich Area. The canton of Schaffhausen achieved the highest, up 27.4 percent, followed by Zug and Uri in second and third place, with respective growth of 24.3 percent and 19.8 percent.

In the reporting year, CRIF only recorded a decline for the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden, at -0.4 percent. By sector, new startups were down 7.2 percent year on year in the wholesale trade in 2021. Startups were most frequent in retail, management consultancy and construction, with figures ranging from 4,313 to 3,492.