Swiss Commercial Register: Significant Decrease in New Company Foundations in April 2026 Compared to Previous Month

Significant Decrease Compared to March In April, 4,574 new companies were registered in the commercial register. This corresponds to a drop of around 14% compared to March 2026. However, compared to the same month the previous year, there is a slight increase of 0.4%. March thus remains the strongest month for founding companies so far this year.

Chart New Foundations Switzerland: Comparison of Recent Months (A related image accompanies this section.)

Classification: Seasonal Cooling After Strong Quarter Following a strong first quarter, April shows a clear cooling in the founding dynamics. This development corresponds to a typical seasonal pattern seen in recent years. Only in 2024 did April deviate from this pattern, as new foundations increased by about 5% compared to the previous month.

Possible reasons include Easter holiday-related delays, a lower number of working days, and a generally more cautious approach to business foundations in spring.

Regional Distribution: Zurich Clearly Leading Regionally, the Canton of Zurich remains at the forefront with 818 foundations. It is followed by the Cantons of Vaud with 412 companies and Bern with 383 new entries. The distribution confirms the consistently high level of founding activity in Switzerland's economically strong centers.

Sectors: Construction, Trade and Consulting Dominate The sectors again reveal clear focuses. A particularly high number of new foundations are in construction and real estate (688), trade (531), and business consulting (474). These sectors have traditionally been among the driving forces in the Swiss founding landscape.

Deletions Also Decrease Parallel to the new foundations, the number of deletions also fell. A total of around 2,663 companies were deleted from the commercial register in April 2026. This is about 14% less than in the previous month and around 18% less than in April 2025.

The simultaneous decline in foundations and deletions points to an overall quieter market phase. Seasonal effects around Easter and a certain restraint in entrepreneurial decisions could play a role in this.

Mutations Remain at a High Level The number of commercial register mutations amounted to 19,100 entries in April. Compared to the previous month, this represents a decrease of about 12%, but remains significantly higher (+14%) compared to the previous year.

Mutations include changes of purpose, relocations, capital adjustments, as well as personnel changes in the board of directors and management. Particularly relevant remains the development in liquidations.

A total of 2,371 liquidation-related entries were registered. Of these, 248 cases concern companies that have been newly placed into liquidation due to organizational deficiencies according to Art. 731b CO. A declining trend is observable in this area compared to previous months.

Liechtenstein with Positive Trend In contrast to Switzerland, the Principality of Liechtenstein shows a slightly more positive development. In April 2026, 78 new companies were founded, which represents an increase of about 13% compared to the previous month. Meanwhile, 69 companies were deleted, while 869 mutations were recorded in the commercial register.

All current commercial register figures for the Principality of Liechtenstein, based on data up to April 29, 2026, are available at www.firmenbuch.li.

Swiss Commercial Register Figures at a Glance (A related image accompanies this section.)

Media Contact:
Andy Rauch, CEO
Phone 044 240 36 40
medieninfo@help.ch
https://www.help.ch
https://www.firmenstatistik.ch

Source of Company Graphics for All Cantons:
Redaktion Help.ch, Phone 044 240 36 40, redaktion@help.ch
https://www.help.ch/medien/

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