Zurich Sees Net Loss of Over 1,000 Companies
Zurich loses companies and faces tax location pressure.
Zurich as a business location is losing companies. Between 2018 and 2024, the canton recorded a net loss of more than 1,000 corporate relocations, according to commercial register statistics. This does not mean that exactly 1,000 companies left Zurich: the balance of departures and arrivals is counted.
The Zurich Chamber of Commerce (ZHK) views this development as a warning sign. It primarily attributes the decline in locational attractiveness to the corporate tax burden. Concurrently, the tax burden trend is indeed moving in an unfavorable direction: Zurich now ranks at the bottom in a national comparison.
Whether taxes are actually the decisive cause for individual location decisions is another question. The available departure figures show that companies are leaving the canton. They do not automatically show why each individual company left.
More Departures Than Arrivals
The commercial register statistics analyzed by the ZHK show a negative balance for the years 2018 to 2024. Overall, Zurich recorded more departures than arrivals during this period.
The ZHK refers to a net loss of over 1,000 corporate relocations. According to its calculations, this corresponds to an average loss of about 200 jobs per year.
These figures concern registered office relocations or entries in the commercial register. A company moving its registered office from Zurich to another canton is considered a departure from Zurich. However, the statistics do not indicate whether a company thereby completely withdraws its economic activities from Zurich or continues to maintain a significant portion of its jobs and activities within the canton.
Schulthess, Saviva, and Sigvaris: Three Specific Cases
This development can be illustrated by several well-known companies.
Washing machine manufacturer Schulthess relocated its headquarters in 2022 from Bubikon to the Canton of Zug. Food wholesaler Saviva moved with approximately 240 jobs from Regensdorf to Brunegg in Aargau. Compression stocking manufacturer Sigvaris announced in 2024 the relocation of its headquarters from Winterthur to St. Gallen.
All three cases share one commonality: the companies left Zurich, but not Switzerland.
This differentiates them from a classic relocation abroad. The locational competition in these cases occurs primarily within Switzerland – and thus between cantons with varying tax, cost, and location conditions.
However, the specific factors that were decisive for individual decisions cannot be deduced from the departure figures. Besides taxes, real estate costs, available space, workforce, infrastructure, customer proximity, or a company's organizational structure can also play a role.
Zurich Ranks Last in Corporate Taxes
The deterioration in the tax burden, however, is measurable. In 2006, Zurich ranked 12th in the cantonal comparison of corporate tax burdens. Since then, the canton has lost several positions, according to its tax burden monitor.
In the current Tax Burden Monitor 2026, Zurich remains in last place in the national comparison for corporate burden. This is based on a standardized company case. Profit and capital burdens in the cantonal capitals are compared.
An important caveat, however: the ranking does not consider cantonal reliefs provided by STAF instruments – such as patent boxes and research and development deductions. For certain companies, the actual burden may therefore be significantly lower.
Internationally, the picture is also less clear. The Canton of Zurich itself points out that its corporate taxation remains competitive compared to many Western European countries. The actual locational disadvantage thus manifests primarily in Swiss tax competition.
Why Taxes Still Play a Role
The fact that the tax burden does not automatically explain every departure does not mean it is irrelevant for companies.
In a corporate survey conducted by the Canton of Zurich, 64 percent of the surveyed companies described the tax environment as a negative location factor. Taxation is thus among the factors that companies critically assess regarding Zurich as a location.
At the same time, there are other cost factors. Zurich is an economically successful, but also expensive, location. High wage and rental costs can also be relevant for companies. The canton itself describes the high-cost environment as a consequence of economic success, while also highlighting the high quality of the location.
The crucial question, therefore, is not whether taxes play a role. The data suggest that they are a location factor for many companies. Rather, the open question is how significant their influence on actual relocation decisions is.
Zurich Has Already Lowered Corporate Taxes
Politically, Zurich has already reacted to locational competition. On May 18, 2025, Zurich residents approved the second stage of Tax Proposal 17.
The cantonal profit tax rate was thus reduced from 7 to 6 percent. The explicit goal of the proposal was to strengthen Zurich as a business location, retain companies in the canton, and secure tax revenues long-term.
The proposal was accepted with 306,156 'Yes' votes against 194,499 'No' votes. The approval rate was just over 61 percent.
Despite this tax reduction, Zurich remained at the bottom of the cantonal ranking in the current corporate tax comparison. The reason is not solely Zurich's own development: other cantons have also lowered their burden, some reducing it even more significantly.
This is precisely the problem with tax competition: a tax reduction does not necessarily improve one's own position if other cantons simultaneously provide even greater relief.
What the Figures Do Not Say About Tax Losses
The ZHK warns of a loss of tax revenues. However, a concrete total sum of taxes lost due to relocations cannot be derived from its analysis.
There is a simple reason for this: one company does not equal a specific tax amount. The amount of profit tax depends, among other things, on profit, capital, tax structure, and applicable reliefs.
Even a relocation within Switzerland does not mean that all tax revenues from the company disappear. Tax sovereignty partially shifts from the previous to the new location.
For Zurich, however, cantonal and communal tax revenues can be lost upon relocation. The distribution of cantons' share of direct federal tax can also change.
The actual financial consequences of the net outflow would therefore need to be calculated based on the tax data of the affected companies. The previously published departure figures are not sufficient for this.
The Big Open Question: Will Companies Continue to Leave?
The ZHK analysis covers the period up to the end of 2024. The Zurich Commercial Register Office now publishes quarterly updated data on new registrations, deletions, and registered office relocations. The dataset was last updated in July 2026.
This allows the location trend to be further monitored. For a conclusive assessment, it would be crucial to determine whether the net outflow continued, weakened, or reversed after 2024.
Precisely this development is politically relevant: if Tax Proposal 17 was intended to strengthen the location, it would also have to be shown in the long term whether corporate migration stabilizes.
Zurich Remains a Strong Business Location
Furthermore, the net outflow must not be confused with a general decline of the business location.
Approximately 112,500 companies remain active in the Canton of Zurich. 99 percent of these are SMEs. While large companies account for less than one percent of businesses, they employ about 40 percent of the workforce and contribute a similarly high share to cantonal value creation.
The location therefore still possesses an exceptionally large economic base. The question is not whether Zurich is still attractive. The more interesting question is how attractive Zurich is compared to other Swiss locations.
This is precisely where the tax burden becomes relevant. A company in Zurich can benefit from a large labor market, strong infrastructure, universities, international connections, and a dense economic network. Simultaneously, another canton might be more attractive regarding taxes or costs.
A Warning Sign – But No Proof of Tax Flight
The available data thus paint a nuanced picture.
First: Zurich lost a net of over 1,000 companies due to registered office relocations between 2018 and 2024.
Second: The corporate tax burden has significantly worsened in comparison to other Swiss cantons. Zurich now ranks at the bottom.
Third: Companies themselves often critically assess the tax environment.
Fourth: Zurich responded in 2025 with a further reduction in profit tax.
Fifth: The departure figures alone cannot prove that the tax burden is the main cause of individual location decisions.
Precisely this last caveat is crucial. The figures confirm a net outflow. However, they do not prove 'tax flight' in the narrower sense.
Conclusion: Zurich Faces Locational Pressure
Zurich is experiencing a net loss of companies, while the canton ranks last nationwide in corporate tax burden. This is a relevant warning sign for the business location – but not yet proof that high taxes are the cause of the exodus.
Taxes are demonstrably an important location factor: 64 percent of surveyed Zurich companies view the tax environment critically. At the same time, Zurich competes not only on tax rates but also on workforce, infrastructure, real estate, quality of life, and proximity to customers and business partners.
Tax Proposal 17 also shows that Zurich has already taken political countermeasures. Whether these measures are sufficient will not be determined solely by the tax ranking. What is decisive is whether Zurich can retain more companies and attract new ones in the future than leave the canton.
The net outflow until 2024 is therefore primarily one thing: a warning sign that demands a more precise analysis of the reasons and the development after 2024.
Sources
- Zurich Chamber of Commerce: Analysis of Corporate Migration in the Canton of Zurich.
- Canton of Zurich, Department of Finance: Tax Burden Monitor 2026.
- Canton of Zurich, Office for Economic Affairs: Corporate Survey 2024 and Economic Monitoring 2026.
- Canton of Zurich, Commercial Register Office: Quarterly Data on New Registrations, Deletions, and Registered Office Relocations.
- Canton of Zurich: Voting Result for Tax Proposal 17 of May 18, 2025.
