Five thousand firms expected to go bankrupt
The number of businesses to go bankrupt annually in Switzerland will likely exceed 5,000 for the first time, the Swiss Association of Creditors, Creditreform, warned on Friday.
The global economic crisis claimed 393 companies in Switzerland in August alone, a 44 per cent rise over the same period last year. From January to August, 3,429 companies went bankrupt.
“This year, we have around 750 more bankruptcies than in 2008,” the organisation said.
Personal bankruptcies have increased by 7.2 per cent, to 3,837. They are expected to reach 6,000 by the end of the year.
The economic landscape for Switzerland’s businesses varied greatly according to region.
Bankruptcies have increased by 64.5 per cent in Italian-speaking Ticino, a canton that is sensitive to cyclical fluctuations. Canton Zurich’s bankruptcies increased by 36.2 per cent.
Northwestern Switzerland has been least affected, with its bankruptcies increasing by 12.1 per cent, followed by canton Bern, with 12.7 per cent.
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