Bankruptcies continue to grow in 2024: new record of cases

Post on: 09.05.2025

In 2024, the number of bankruptcies opened against companies and natural persons based on Federal Law on Debt Enforcement and Bankruptcy (LEF) reached a new all-time high: 17,036 cases, marking the fourth consecutive year of growth. Compared to 2023, liquidations and enforcement acts also increased, while financial losses arising from ordinary and summary bankruptcies were drastically reduced (-26.5%).

È What emerges from the last survey of the Federal Statistical Office (FSO).

Bankruptcies | Continuous and generalized growth

In detail, the number of bankruptcies è grew by 10.3% compared to 2023. The increase has continued unabated since 2021, bringing the total more than 100 million euros to the highest level of the which twice as much as in the early nineties. In most cantons, there is an increase, with Zurich (+244 cases, +10.6%) and Ticino (+228 cases, +25.5%) leading the way in absolute volume. The Canton of Zug records howeverò The increase more marked in relative terms, with a jump of 31%, followed by Basel-Landschaft (+23.6%).

Only five cantons recorded a slight decline: Fribourg (-20 cases), Jura (-15), Glarus (-7), Appenzell Ausserrhoden (-2) and Appenzell Innerrhoden (-1).

Dissolutions due to growing organizational deficiencies

In addition to bankruptcies, dissolution of companies is also increasing; for organisational deficiencies according to the Art. 731b of the Code of Obligations: 2 835 cases in 2024, an increase of 10.4% compared to previous year. At the cantonal level, the trend is è less homogeneous: 17 cantons recorded an increase, while 9 showed a decrease. A special case è Fribourg, the only canton with a decrease in both LEF bankruptcies and dissolutions due to deficiencies.

Financial losses down sharply

Even with the Increase in bankruptcy liquidations (+5.3%, totalling 16,550 cases), the financial losses generated fell to an all-time low: around 1.5 billion francs, i.e. 550 million less than in 2023. & the fourth consecutive year of decline.

The figure, although much moreù low than the average of the last ten years (almost 3 billion), it is nevertheless subject to strong annual fluctuations depending on the individual case.

The decline in losses affected 12 cantons. The mostù significant, in absolute terms, were Fribourg, Ticino, Zug and Zurich, each with a reduction of more than 100 million. In percentage terms, the largest declines occurred in Graubünden (-67.2%), Ticino (-80.7%), Freiburg (-65.7%), Zug (-62.4%), Zurich (-42.5%) and Neuchâ tel (-59.7%).