Switzerland below average despite record number of start-ups
Published: Friday, Jun 28th 2024, 14:20
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More and more Swiss people are venturing into self-employment. The 27,109 companies founded in the first half of 2024 represent a record.
This is 2.1 percent more than in the same period last year. Compared to neighboring countries, however, this is not even average, as the IFJ Institute for Young Entrepreneurs reported on Friday.
According to the study, Switzerland is nevertheless a very good breeding ground for start-ups: A good infrastructure, government support programs and low corporate taxes made the location attractive. This is also confirmed by the Global Innovation Index, in which Switzerland took first place for the third time in a row in 2023.
High-tech on the rise
Most new Swiss start-ups were in the trades, consulting, real estate and retail sectors. The sectors with the strongest growth compared to the previous year were high-tech (+61%), architecture and engineering (+34%) and marketing and communication (+31%).
By contrast, wholesale (-19%) and healthcare (-20%) recorded significant declines. The printing and publishing industry recorded the sharpest decline (-36%).
A total of 16 cantons contributed to this growth. Appenzell Ausserrhoden (+17%), Appenzell Innerrhoden (+15%), Vaud (+13%) and Uri (+10%) saw a particularly high number of new start-ups. In the most populous canton, Zurich, they increased by just over 1%. The sharpest decline was recorded in the canton of Schaffhausen (-15%).
Neighbors better on average
This means that the first half of the year performed very well in a historical comparison: the record figure also means a good 17 percent more start-ups than the average of the last ten first half-years.
A look across the border is somewhat surprising. At 5.8 start-ups per 1000 inhabitants, Switzerland performs relatively poorly in comparison with neighboring countries.
With 28.7 start-ups per 1000 inhabitants, Liechtenstein is well ahead of Switzerland. However, France (15.4) and Germany (7.0) are also ahead of Switzerland. By contrast, Italy (5.3) and Austria (4.0) are weaker.
©Keystone/SDA
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