Record number of companies founded in Switzerland in 2023

Swiss commercial registers, such as this one in canton Zug, had a busy year. © Keystone / Christian Beutler

The closing year saw more people than ever take the plunge into self-employment, with new firms spawning across almost all parts of the country.

A total of 51,637 new companies were founded in Switzerland in 2023 – or an average of 141 every day, the Institut für Jungunternehmen (IFJ) said on Friday. The number of new firms thus rose by 3.2% compared to 2022 and by 2.2% compared to the previous record year of 2021.

According to the IFJ, “only” 45,409 new companies were founded each year on average over the last decade. Compared to this mean figure, company start-ups in 2023 grew by 13.7%.

IFJ experts suspect that the reason for the large number of new companies is “a yearning for professional freedom”. Many people now work part-time and can fulfil their dream of starting their own business alongside their permanent job. According to a press release, the institute sees the fact that so many companies are being founded in Switzerland as an important driver of the local economy.

+ Read more: what’s the outlook for the Swiss economy in 2024?

More new companies were founded in almost all major Swiss regions in 2023. Most start-ups were created in northwestern Switzerland (+7%) and eastern Switzerland (+5.2%). Only the southern Ticino region saw a decrease (-1.2%).

Among the 26 cantons, Graubünden saw the largest increase (+13.8%) and canton Obwalden the largest decrease (-16.1%), according to the IFJ.

According to the press release, the most popular legal form for newly founded companies is still the limited liability company (GmbH) with 20,419 new entities this year (+2.7%). The increase in the number of new general partnerships, with 1,540 new companies (+17.3%), is surprising, writes the institute.

According to the IFJ, the proportion of public limited companies fell by 5.3%.

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