Construction is the hardest hit sector so far this year.
Keystone / Salvatore Di Nolfi
So far this year, significantly more companies have filed for bankruptcy in Switzerland than last year. In total, around 10,000 companies are expected to go bankrupt in 2023.
In the first nine months of 2023, the 700 bankruptcies per month mark was reached or exceeded three times, creditors’ association Creditreform said on Tuesday. These are levels that have never been reached before.
Compared to the previous year, the number of company bankruptcies (insolvencies) increased by as much as 11% to 5,466. In September alone, the increase was almost 20%, with 700 bankruptcies.
For the whole of 2023, Creditreform expects just under 10,000 bankruptcies this year, which would be slightly below the previous year’s figure (10,095). If one compares this figure with the average of 2018 and 2019, the period before the Corona crisis, it means an increase of almost a quarter.
The sector most affected by the bankruptcies is construction, with a share of 15.1%, followed by wholesale and retail (14.2%), management consultancies (11.6%) and the hospitality industry (10.5%).
In the first nine months of 2023, 38,302 new company names were entered in the commercial register, 3.3% more than a year earlier. The net balance, however, is likely to be slightly negative (-1.1%).
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. You can find them here.
External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
Popular Stories
More
Multinational companies
Azeri fossil-fuel cash cow brings controversy to Switzerland
Is artificial intelligence an advantage or a disadvantage for workers?
What is your experience with AI at work? Have you already used it? Has it helped you work better? Or has it caused you more stress, more work or caused you to lose your job? Tell us about your experiences!
Swiss price watchdog slams excessive prices for generic medicines
This content was published on
The cheapest generic medicines available in Switzerland are more than twice as expensive as in other countries, according to a study by the Swiss price watchdog.
Nature should not figure in net zero calculations: academic study
This content was published on
The natural removal of CO2 from the atmosphere by forests or oceans should not be included in the net-zero balance of climate protection measures, argue researchers.
This content was published on
None of the 15 major Swiss retail banks is meeting international climate and biodiversity targets, according to a ranking by WWF Switzerland.
This content was published on
Nestlé's new CEO Laurent Freixe, has presented plans for the future of the world's largest food company, after his first few weeks in office.
Swiss foreign minister calls on Moscow to end Ukraine war
This content was published on
It's high time Moscow ended its war against Ukraine, Swiss foreign minister Ignazio Cassis tells the UN Security Council.
This content was published on
The only alternative to the UN Palestinian agency’s work in Gaza is to allow Israel to run services there, Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner-General, told reporters in Geneva on Monday.
Study reveals food culture differences between Switzerland and neighbours
This content was published on
Three-quarters of Swiss people consider eating to be a pleasurable, social activity, a new survey reveals. Healthy eating, however, plays a much less important role, it found.
This content was published on
The Ukraine war and high inflation are still expected to hold back the Swiss economy this year, but energy costs are expected to ease.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.