Switzerland is leader for family businesses

Switzerland has again come in first place out of 21 OECD countries in a ranking of the most attractive locations for family businesses. The list was compiled by the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) on behalf of the Munich-based Foundation for Family Businesses in Germany and Europe. The UK and USA came in second and third place respectively. Germany fell four places from the last survey in 2016 to come in 16th place. For the first time, a former euro crisis country – Portugal – ranked higher than Switzerland’s economically largest neighbour.

Indicators such as taxes, financing, regulation, energy, infrastructure and institutions, as well as labour costs, productivity and human capital were assessed for the country comparison. According to an interactive graphic, Switzerland performed particularly well in the areas of infrastructure and institutions, where it was awarded 96 out of 100 points. It also scored top marks in the areas of taxes and regulation, receiving 68 and 65 points respectively. The only area that Switzerland performed weakly in was energy, where it came in 19th place with 52 points for energy prices, security of electricity supply and energy import risk, as well as achieving climate targets.