Switzerland, record business failures: levels not seen since 1994 (cross-border guide)

Context

In a nutshell

• 7496 companies in bankruptcy in the first half of the year
• 54.7% growth compared to the previous year
• 41 companies close their doors every day
• 38% of cases concern companies with more than ten years of activity

Key facts

• What: Business bankruptcies due to insolvency
• When: First semester
• Where: Switzerland (25 out of 26 cantons)
• Who: Dun & Bradstreet (d&b)
• Amount: 7496 companies involved

The Swiss economic fabric is going through a difficult phase: in the first half of the year, 7,496 companies declared bankruptcy due to insolvency, a number that has not been recorded since 1994, according to today's indications from the economic information company Dun & Bradstreet. Compared to the same period of the previous year, there was a growth of 54.7%. Translated into daily terms, it means that every day about 41 companies had to close their doors, d&b experts point out. If the pace were to remain constant, the annual total is expected to reach 15,000, far exceeding the 11,856 of the previous year. However, the data must be contextualized: behind the surge there is also an important regulatory change. Since the beginning of 2025, public bodies have been obliged by law to proceed more strictly with the recovery of debts through enforcement procedures. The increase is only partly economic in nature, Dirk Radetzki, a d&b executive, said in a statement. This change makes it difficult to

Operational details

Type and longevity of affected companies

A fact that may surprise you is the age of failed companies: contrary to what you might think, it is not only young start-ups that collapse, but above all the longest-lived companies. Companies with more than ten years of activity represent 38% of cases, equal to 2,814 failures, followed by those with an age between 5 and 10 years, which register 2,027 cases, equal to 27%. This distribution demonstrates how economic pressure and new regulatory provisions are also affecting established and historical structures in the market. Dirk Radetzki comments that it is extremely unusual for Switzerland to be hit in so many cantons and sectors at once, reinforcing the idea that we are facing a systemic effect, rather than sector-specific crises. The legislative reform is highlighting a vulnerability that has remained hidden for years, hitting hard those historic companies that had long been operating at the limit of their financial balance, concludes the expert.

The interaction between macroeconomic factors, such as weak demand and high financing costs, combined with the new regime for the collection of receivables by public bodies, outlines a scenario in which the resilience of companies is put to the test on several fronts. Dun & Bradstreet's analysis highlights how the old rules would have masked some of this suffering

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Key points

Future prospects and trends for the economic fabric

The projections formulated by Dun & Bradstreet experts indicate that, maintaining the current pace observed in the first half of the year, the annual total of bankruptcy procedures could reach 15,000. This value would significantly exceed the data recorded in the previous year, confirming a long-term trend that finds no comparable recent precedents if it goes back to 1994. Economic operators and authorities continue to monitor the evolution of the economic situation, assessing the combined impact of the new legislative provisions on executive procedures and market dynamics that continue to weigh on strategic sectors such as crafts, catering and retail.

The framework outlined by the current statistical data requires careful observation of business dynamics in the coming months, in particular to understand whether the tightening in the recovery of receivables by public bodies will continue to produce similar effects on the overall number of open procedures. Meanwhile, the various production sectors try to adapt to a context characterised by high financing costs and demand that in certain sectors remains weak, outlining a complex and constantly evolving economic landscape on a national scale.

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Source: tio.ch