Foundation report October: A lively start to the autumn
There were 4218 start-ups across Switzerland in October, an increase of 14.37% compared to September. A direct comparison with October last year also shows a similar picture, as there were 9.27% more start-ups in October 2023.
2023 vs. 2022
The lead over the previous year was also evident in a year-on-year comparison, as there were 4,549 new start-ups throughout Switzerland in 2023 up to the end of October. This figure corresponds to an increase of 4.46% compared to last year, in which 40731 new companies were founded by the end of October.
The winner gains strength
French-speaking Switzerland was once again the leader in October. However, in contrast to the somewhat weaker September, it gained strength this month and recorded growth of 18.79% with 1258 start-ups. Compared to the previous year, this corresponds to an increase of 9.77%, as there were 1146 new start-ups in October 2022. There were 438 new companies in the canton of Vaud and 373 companies were founded in Geneva.
The month-on-month change in Ticino was also impressive, with a whopping +34.81%. There were 135 start-ups in September and the number of new companies in October was 182, although there was only a slight change of +3.41% compared to October 2022.
Strong growth in Northwestern Switzerland
908 new companies were founded in Northwestern Switzerland, outstripping the number of new companies founded in the previous month by 17.16%. The change compared to October 2022 was also positive and amounted to +13.50%. Bern had the highest number of start-ups in the region with 301, an increase of 11.07% on the previous month and 15.33% on the previous year. Basel-Landschaft stood out in this region in particular, as the number of new start-ups totalled 118, a gain of 47.50 percentage points compared to September.
Eastern Switzerland also scored highly with an increase of 13.91% compared to the previous month. In addition, the 516 new companies corresponded to a positive change of +9.09% compared to the previous year.
Zurich back on its feet
After last month’s sharp decline, Zurich was able to recover this month and recorded a result of 797 start-ups. This corresponds to a slight increase of 4.18% compared to September and an increase of 11.00% compared to the previous year.
Central Switzerland recorded 557 newly founded companies in October, exceeding the previous month’s figure by 11.18%. However, this growth was not reflected in the canton with the highest number of start-ups in the region, as Zug recorded a decrease of 2.16% on the previous month with a total of 227 new start-ups. In a comparison with October 2022, this year’s figure for October was 16.41% higher than the previous year.
Outlook
As expected, there was an increase in start-ups in October, which was positive after the weaker summer months. The growth in start-ups was also reflected in the year-on-year comparison, as the change was +9.27%. This trend is expected to continue in November, as this has also been a strong month for start-ups in recent years.
