Inflation and scarce energy
The wave of bankruptcy continues unabated in Switzerland
The number of company bankruptcies is not decreasing. Compared to last year, company insolvency is 37 percent higher than last year.
1/5
The number of company bankruptcies is not decreasing.
Bankruptcy wave continues: At the end of August, corporate insolvency was a third higher than in the previous year. The wave is likely to roll over for some time.
Corporate insolvency rose 37 percent in the first eight months of the current year compared to the same period last year, according to an assessment published Monday by credit rating service Creditreform. Overall, this means that from January to August, 4,341 companies in Switzerland closed their doors forever.
“There are no signs of improvement in the economic environment. Quite the contrary: ‘shortage’ is the latest bogeyman,” the Economic Information Service continues.
Supply chain problems and inflation
The fact that so many companies can no longer keep up has something to do with supply chain problems and rising inflation. According to Creditreform, there is also a lack of adjacent energy. “Prospects for 2023 are not too rosy,” summarize the authors.
So he expects the wave of bankruptcies to not subside in the coming months. For the current year, Creditreform is assuming a record number of company bankruptcies. According to experts, 6,700 companies are likely to apply for bankruptcy – up 5 percent from the previous high in 2017.
corona effect spoil the picture
The fact that bankruptcies have increased so rapidly over the past year is also due to the comparable period. In the two corona years 2020 and 2021, bankruptcies declined sharply as many ailing companies secured government emergency loans or other government aid measures and were able to survive for some time.
If you compare bankruptcy data for the first eight months with the average for the two years 2018 and 2019, the bankruptcy rate for 2022 is still higher at 8 percent.
The Bottom Line Is Still a Company Plus
Despite a record number of companies going bankrupt, thousands again took up entrepreneurship in Switzerland this year. From January to August, about 33,000 transactions were recorded in the commercial register. This is 3 per cent less than last year. But after subtracting the companies removed from the commercial register, the bottom line is an increase of about 14,000 companies.
Creditreform expects that the situation will not change significantly by the end of the year. According to experts, the number of newly established companies should increase to around 50,000 throughout the year. (sda)
