Swiss firms among the gloomiest globally for Q3 2025

The global situation is weighing on the minds, and balance sheets, of Swiss companies. Keystone-SDA

In an international comparison, Swiss firms are much more pessimistic about the third quarter of 2025. Fears about customs duties, global uncertainties, a slowdown in trade and declining sales are depressing sentiment.

The Global Business Optimism Index, compiled by business information service Dun & Bradstreet (D&B), fell by a significant 18% in Switzerland in the third quarter of 2025 compared to the previous quarter, according to a press release on Wednesday.

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Sentiment in Switzerland thus deteriorated significantly more than the global average, where the decline was only 6%. Only in France (-20%) and Brazil (-19%) was the decline bigger. Overall, the negative trend of the previous two quarters continued.

The downturn was particularly marked in the sub-index for supply chain stability, which fell by 20%. Globally, the index also fell significantly by 10%, albeit to a lesser extent than in Switzerland.

In particular, “weak growth, the threat of trade conflicts and the EU carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) are increasingly unsettling companies”, said Marianne Bregenzer, Country Lead Switzerland at D&B.

According to the survey, sentiment is particularly gloomy in the food manufacturing, transport, finance and insurance sectors.

Rethinking strategy

Financial confidence among Swiss firms fell by 12%, compared to an average of 3% worldwide. Many Swiss companies are therefore rethinking their financing strategies and postponing investments. “Smaller companies are feeling the effects of restricted access to capital particularly keenly,” said Bregenzer.

According to D&B, around 10,000 companies from 32 countries were surveyed on business expectations for the quarterly report.

Translated from German by DeepL/dos

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