Company insolvencies continue to rise
In the first two months of the current year, 807 companies in Switzerland already went bankrupt. This is an increase of 4% compared with the prior-year period.
The business information service Bisnode D&B regularly collects data on insolvencies and new company formations. According to the latest figures, insolvency proceedings were opened against 807 companies in Switzerland in the first two months of 2017. This represents an increase of four percent compared to the same period last year. There were fewer company bankruptcies only in southwestern Switzerland (-16%) and Zurich (-7%). In the other regions, the number of bankruptcies increased, in some cases massively. For example, bankruptcy figures really exploded in Central Switzerland (+41%) and also increased sharply in Northwestern Switzerland (+22%), Ticino (+15%) and Eastern Switzerland (+14%). In Espace Mitteland, the increase was comparatively moderate (+7%). However, corporate insolvencies declined by 11 percent year-on-year in February 2017.
Construction industry prone to bankruptcy
If we look at the developments in insolvencies by sector, a clear picture emerges: the construction industry is already known as one of Switzerland's bankruptcy sectors, but the current bankruptcy figures beat all previous figures. In the first two months of this year, the insolvency frequency in the construction industry was almost four times higher than the average for all industries. The hospitality industry follows with a 2.5 times higher risk. Handicraft enterprises went bankrupt 1.9 times more frequently. By contrast, holding companies, the real estate sector and the printing and publishing industry had a very low risk of insolvency.
Stagnation in company start-ups
Company start-ups were rather subdued. In January and February, company founders in Switzerland had 6,854 new businesses entered in the commercial register. This is an increase of two percent compared to the previous year. While start-ups declined in Central Switzerland (-6%) and Ticino (-5%), they stagnated in Eastern Switzerland. More companies than in the previous year were created in Zurich (+1%), Espace Mittelland (+5%) and Northwestern Switzerland (+7%).
Source: Bisnode D&B
