Only 0.3% of all Swiss enterprises are large, and SMEs continue to dominate the enterprise landscape, constituting 99.7% of all firms.
Switzerland exhibited a real GDP growth of 0.9% in 2024, compared with 1.2% in 2023. Total outstanding SME loans rose by 1.8% in 2024, reaching CHF 562 billion, a lower growth rate compared to the 2023 figure of 3.4%. Micro enterprises registered a growth rate of 3%, while small and medium-sized enterprises recorded a decrease rate of 0.8% and 0.5% respectively.
Over the 2007-2024 period, SME loans expanded by 74.1%, while overall corporate lending rose by 80.7%.
Lending standards tightened only slightly in 2024, with robust loan demand by firms throughout the year, while demand for loans by households increased slightly.
Since reaching its lowest point of 1.74% in 2021, the average interest rate charged to SMEs increased between 2022 (2.56%) and in 2023 (3.30%), but fell again in 2024 to 2.39%. Meanwhile the interest rate spread between large and small companies increased to 53 basis points (in 2024), having reached its lowest level since 2009 of 38 basis points in 2023.
Venture and growth capital investments declined sharply by 48.8% in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021 and 2022, there was a recovery, with growth of 21.7% and 79.5% respectively. However, after declining by 23.9% in 2023, venture and growth capital investments experienced a further decrease of 16.6% in 2024.
Turning to the developments in online alternative finance, the number of crowdfunding platforms increased to 38 in 2024, compared to 36 in 2023. In 2024, however, only 23 platforms recorded funding campaigns. The largest volume share within the various crowdfunding categories continues to come from crowdlending (74%) followed by crowdinvesting (21%). The volume of crowd supporting/crowd donating declined by 7.2% in 2024 compared to the previous year.
Payment delays in the business-to-business sector showed a marginal decrease compared with 2023, with a reduction from 13 to 11 days in 2024. They are still higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic (8 days in 2019). The liquidity problems that have arisen due to the pandemic continue to present a challenge.
In Switzerland, four guarantee cooperatives support SMEs in obtaining bank loans of up to CHF 1 million. Loan guarantee volumes increased steadily over the 2007-2010 period, declined slightly in 2011, and continued to grow from 2012 to 2021. The Parliament has amended the Federal Law on Financial Aid for Loan Guarantee Organisations: since 1 July 2019, the law allows for guarantees up to CHF 1 million (previously, the ceiling was CHF 500 000). Since 2021, there has been a decrease in volume year on year, partly due to a certain amount of cannibalisation by special measures related to the pandemic.
The Swiss Federal Council has adopted three measures in particular to support SME financing during and beyond the pandemic: bridging credits through a guarantee programme, credits through a guarantee programme specific for start-ups and a hardship support programme (mainly non-repayable contributions) for companies which were, due to the nature of their economic activities, particularly affected by the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis. These special COVID-19 guaranteed credit programmes require full repayment of the credit in principle within eight years. By the end of 2024, around 11% of Swiss companies still benefit from these credits.