Figures on SMEs: Closing of companies

Establishing a company also involves running the risk of failure. After a few years, some entrepreneurs are forced to shut down.

According to the FSO Business demography statistics, the average survival rate of new businesses in Switzerland is 81.9% after a year of existence. Thus, nearly 34,900 companies created ‘ex-nihilo’ in 2019 were still active in 2020.

If we look at companies founded in 2015, the survival chances at one year are slightly higher in the secondary sector, at 83.2%, compared to 82.9% in the tertiary sector. After two years of existence, businesses in the tertiary sector founded in 2015 show a survival rate of 70.8%, compared to 70.4% for the secondary sector. After three years of existence, the trend remains similar, at 61.7% in the tertiary sector and 60.2% in the secondary sector. After five years of existence, these figures increase to 49.5% in the tertiary sector and 47.2% in the secondary sector.

EN_LN_SECO_Chiffres_PME_2022_TauxSurvieEntreprise
FSO, Statistics on business demography 2015-2020 (next publication: December 2023)

Bankruptcy

In 2021, 14,081 cases filing for corporate and personal bankruptcy proceedings were recorded under the Federal Debt Enforcement and Bankruptcy Act (LP), i.e., 1,169 cases more than in 2020 (+9.1%).



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Last modification 24.01.2023

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