(20.04.2022) The number of Swiss companies closing down or being sued is increasing. In 2021, according to the Federal Statistical Office (FSO), personal and corporate bankruptcies increased by 9.1% compared to 2020, while the number of lawsuits rose by almost 5%.
The increase in bankruptcies, excluding company closures due to organizational deficiencies (Art. 731b OR), is explained by 2020’s exceptionally low rate. A wave of company closures was probably avoided that year, as a result of the Federal Council's support measures during the pandemic. Compared to 2019, the 14'081 bankruptcy proceedings initiated in 2021 represent a more modest increase of 1.7%.
The vast majority of cantons, a total of 22 out of 26, are affected by this increase. The biggest increases are in Aargau, where 180 more bankruptcies were recorded (+24.6%), and in Zurich, with a further 238 bankruptcies (+12.5%). At the other end of the spectrum, Geneva, Jura and Appenzell Inner-Rhodes show slight decreases (between -3 and -40 cases).
After a 12% decrease between 2019 and 2020, the number of recorded bankruptcy proceedings is on the rise again, with an increase of almost 5%. The FSO reports that from 1995 to the present, proceedings following payment demands have gradually increased. In Switzerland, in the mid-1990s, for 1.8 million payment demands 783,000 seizures were made, compared to the 2.8 million payment demands in 2021, when there were 1.6 million seizures.
Last modification 20.04.2022
