New entries in the Commercial Register for Q1 2016 show steady growth
More new companies were entered in the Commercial Register for March 2016 than for the previous month, which itself saw high numbers of new registrations. The overall results for Q1 2016 show a 1% increase in registrations compared to the same period for the previous year, thus demonstrating the buoyancy of the Swiss economy.
(Source: Schweizerisches Handelsblatt, SHAB)
Steady growth for Q1 2016
In Q1 2016, 10,356 new companies were entered in the Swiss Commercial Register. This represents a steady 1% growth on the same period for the previous year (10,267 new entries). The weak start in January was offset by the high numbers of new company formations in February.
In comparison to Q4 of 2015 the number of new entries in the Register was down by 4.8%; but this can be explained by the fact that November and December are traditionally busy months for new company formations, making the drop off in the succeeding quarter less surprising.
Most popular forms: company with limited liability and sole trader
Recent years have shown a clear trend. Since the change in the law of 2008, the limited liability format (known as GmbH in Swiss law) has increased in popularity. Today it is the most used legal form for new company formations, making up 37.7% of all the new register entries in Q1 2016, closely followed by sole traders with 36.1%. These two formats thus make up almost three quarters of all new company formations in Switzerland. Public limited companies make up just 17.2% of new formations.
Growth in the Language Areas
Western Switzerland posted exceedingly strong growth of 4.6% in comparison with Q1 of 2015. This growth is attributable to the sharp economic upturn in the Lemanic Arc region. German-speaking Switzerland posted a steady growth of 1.8%. The majority of new registrations (currently 64%) continue to come from this region. Western Switzerland and the canton of Ticino represent 30% and 6% respectively.
Cantons with varying Growth Rates
In comparison with the previous year, the cantons of Vaud (17%), Graubünden (21%) and Neuchâtel (10%) have posted especially strong growth. The canton of Zurich showed a slight slowdown of 0.6% but nonetheless remains the canton with the highest number of new company formations with 18% of all new registrations in Switzerland. For more details of growth in the individual cantons, see the graphs below:
