Foundation report December: Strong final sprint
4694 new companies were founded in Switzerland in December, 6.83% more than in the strong previous month of November. Compared to December 2022, however, there was a decrease of 4.15%.
2023 vs. 2022
Although this year’s December was weaker than last year’s December, there were more start-ups in 2023 than last year. A total of 51637 new companies were founded, while the total in 2022 was 50015. This means that 3.20% more companies were entered in the commercial register in 2023.
Northwestern Switzerland on the rise
There were 1113 new start-ups in Northwestern Switzerland, gaining a lead of 15.82 percentage points over November. The year-on-year comparison was also positive due to an increase of 1.27%. The canton of Bern stood out in particular, with 403 start-ups, an increase of 23.62% on the previous month.
Eastern Switzerland also put in a strong final spurt, with 624 newly founded companies at the end of December. This number corresponds to an absolute increase of 82 compared to the previous month. Thurgau recorded 146 new companies, an increase of 33.94% compared to the previous month.
Zurich and Ticino cannot follow suit
Unlike in the other regions, there was no increase in the number of start-ups in Zurich compared to the previous month. In fact, there was a decrease of 4.80%, resulting in 793 new entries in the commercial register. The change compared to last December was +1.80%.
In Ticino, the same number of companies were founded in December as in November. The 196 start-ups corresponded to a year-on-year decrease of 20.65 percentage points.
Another mixed picture at the top
As in the previous month, the picture in French-speaking Switzerland was mixed, as the region saw an increase compared to the previous month and a negative change compared to the previous year. A total of 1297 new companies were founded, representing an increase of 7.81% compared to November. Last December, however, there had been 4.98% more start-ups.
671 start-ups were recorded in Central Switzerland in December, 1.82% more than in November. However, this month was no match for last December, as the change amounted to -15.28 percentage points. Significantly fewer companies were founded in Zug, as the canton with the highest number of start-ups in the region lost 14.59% compared to the previous month and 30.43% compared to the previous year.
Outlook
As expected, there was a nationwide increase in commercial register entries in December. However, this growth was weaker than expected and the 4694 start-ups were 4.15% below the previous year’s figure. Overall, 2023 was a strong year for start-ups, with a total of 51637 new start-ups. We are hoping for a further increase in 2024.
