Foundation Report September: Increase lower than expected
In September, there were 3825 startups founded in Switzerland, up 3.71% from the previous month. However, compared to September 2022, there were 4.35% fewer startups.
2023 vs. 2022
The decrease from September 2022 to September 2023 was mirrored in the year-over-year comparison (January-September) between 2022 and 2023. So far in 2023, there have been 3825 startups, compared to 3999 new businesses in the previous year through September. Thus, there was a decrease of 4.55% from 2022 to 2023.
Zurich weakens
The number of new companies in Zurich was 658 in September, losing 13.99 percentage points from last month. A comparison with September 2022 also showed a decrease, which was 7.58%. Zurich thus recorded one of the sharpest year-on-year decreases. The largest decrease from September 2022 to September 2023 could be seen in Ticino, as it was 19.00%. But on the other hand, the change from the previous month of +20.00% left positive.
Romandie unchallenged at the top
The French-speaking part of Switzerland successfully defended the first place in the number of start-ups this month, with 1070 start-ups. However, compared to August, the region could only show a slight growth of +1.04%. The year-on-year comparison showed a loss of 6.55%. Vaud accounted for the highest number of startups, as 378 were registered this month, a decrease of 8.70% compared to last month.
The winner was followed by Northwestern Switzerland, as it achieved 851 startups in September, surpassing last month’s performance by 9.81%. Unfortunately, it was unable to surpass the September 2022 figure and was 6.17% below it. Basel-Landschaft stood out in a particularly positive way, as the canton showed 42.50% growth compared to August and even achieved 29.55% more startups than last year.
Head-to-head race
In September, Eastern and Central Switzerland achieved a similarly high value and, in addition, presented a comparable development. In Eastern Switzerland, there were 521 new companies, with this result corresponding to an increase of 15.01% compared to the previous month. The difference to September of last year corresponded to +4.83%. St. Gallen contributed the most to the growth with 228 startups, exceeding the August figure by 40.74%.
Central Switzerland recorded 563 start-ups and achieved a growth of 12.38% compared to August. This region also managed to surpass the previous year’s figures and did so with 4.65%. The most companies were created in Zug, as there were 658 startups. However, this figure was 13.99% lower than in August and 7.58% lower than last year.
Outlook
After the continuous decrease of start-ups during the summer months, a slight increase in the number of start-ups occurred with the onset of autumn, as 3.71% more companies were founded than in August. This trend is in line with previous years, but compared to September 2022, 4.35% less was founded. Based on the course of the last years, we expect a further increase for October.
