Aargau and Thurgau gain in importance for Zurich companies
Most companies that move away from the canton of Zurich settle in neighbouring cantons. Aargau and Thurgau are an increasingly popular destination for industrial, construction and logistics companies relocating from Zurich. Fintech companies favour Zug and Schwyz.
Every year, more companies move out of the canton of Zurich to other cantons than move in from there. On average over the decade from 2012 to 2021, the negative balance was 116 companies. This corresponds to around one per mille of the Zurich population. Although the balance is also negative in terms of the number of full-time positions, it is marginal in relation to the 1.1 million jobs offered by the Zurich economy in 2021. This is the result of an analysis by political scientist Peter Moser published by the Zurich Chamber of Commerce.
If a company relocates, it is often to or from a neighbouring canton. Aargau is clearly in the lead with 18 per cent of the total number of company relocations between 2012 and 2021. According to Moser, this could also be due to the fact that “its economic area, for example in the Limmat Valley, has grown together with that of the canton of Zurich”. This is followed by the low-tax cantons of Zug (16 per cent) and Schwyz (13 per cent), followed by St.Gallen (10 per cent) and Thurgau (9 per cent), which is also low-tax. Financial service providers, on the other hand, prefer the cantons of Zug (40 per cent) and Schwyz (25 per cent).
Aargau is a popular destination for industrial, construction and logistics companies relocating from Zurich. “They benefit from network effects and the land there is also likely to be somewhat cheaper for these industries, which tend to be land-intensive, than in the expensive centre of the Zurich metropolitan area,” says Moser. He believes that the fact that the production factors of land and labour are comparatively inexpensive there, as in Thurgau, is the main reason why these two cantons in particular have gained in importance as target cantons for migrating companies.