1.0Market Snapshot
- 140
- Enterprises in NOGA 82.91 "activities of collection agencies and credit bureaus" in 2024, BFS STATENT — down from 185 in 2011. Lawyers, fiduciaries and in-house credit departments that also collect debts are classified elsewhere.
- 2,051
- Employees in 2024 (1,717 full-time equivalents), BFS STATENT; about half of them in the canton of Zurich.
- +3.0%
- Employment growth in 2024 (1,992 to 2,051), BFS STATENT. Employment has grown 31% since 2020 while the number of enterprises fell.
- 3,031,541
- Payment orders issued by the Swiss debt-enforcement offices in 2025 (BFS, May 2026).
- 12,485
- Company bankruptcies opened in 2025, up 61.2% — after the law change of 1 January 2025 that sends unpaid taxes and other public-law claims against registered companies into bankruptcy.
According to Val Index analysis of Swiss commercial-register and federal data (2026), Switzerland counts 140 debt collection & credit mgmt companies — Enterprises in NOGA 82.91 "activities of collection agencies and credit bureaus" in 2024, BFS STATENT — down from 185 in 2011. Lawyers, fiduciaries and in-house credit departments that also collect debts are classified elsewhere..
2.0Industry Overview
Debt collection in Switzerland works within the federal debt-enforcement system (SchKG): creditors or their agents file a request, the cantonal debt-enforcement office issues a payment order, and unpaid debts end in attachment or bankruptcy. The scale is large. In 2025 the offices issued 3,031,541 payment orders and carried out 1,547,788 attachments — 828,751 of them on wages — but 658,742 attachments found nothing to seize. Losses recorded in loss certificates reached almost CHF 1.8 billion, up 17.8% (BFS, May 2026).
3.0Industry Health Check (SWOT)
- A standardised national debt-enforcement system (SchKG)
- Many debtors have nothing to seize: 658,742 unsuccessful attachments in 2025
- More company insolvencies since the 2025 SchKG change
- Stricter rules on collection fees and consumer protection
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Debt Collection & Credit Mgmt business valuation in Switzerland
- Statutory Multiple (EBITDA)
- 4.0 - 5.5×
- Deal Multiple (EBITDA)
- 5.0 - 7.0×
- Market Trend
- Stable
Indicative ranges based on market research. Actual multiples vary by company size, growth, and market conditions.
8.0Regional Clusters
Zurich
32 enterprises with 1,054 employees in 2024 (BFS STATENT, NOGA 82.91) — 51% of the sector. Intrum, EOS, CRIF and Dun & Bradstreet are registered in the canton.
Central Switzerland
41 enterprises with 371 employees; Zug has 146 and Schwyz 144.
Eastern Switzerland
13 enterprises with 185 employees, almost all in St. Gallen (176).
Northwestern Switzerland
8 enterprises with 171 employees; Aargau has 137.
Western Switzerland
18 enterprises with 169 employees; Vaud has 90 and Geneva 63.
Bern and Solothurn
9 enterprises with 70 employees.
Ticino
4 enterprises with 24 employees. Note: the BFS suppresses enterprise counts in small cantons, so regional counts add up to 125 of the 140 enterprises.
Sources
9.0Frequently Asked Questions
▶How much is a debt-collection company worth in Switzerland?
ValIndex's multiples table puts Swiss debt-collection companies at 5.0–7.0× EBITDA in transactions and 4.0–5.5× EBITDA on statutory valuations. Agencies with long-term mandates from several large clients, good recovery rates and their own data or scoring sit at the upper end; small agencies dependent on one client or on the owner sit lower.
▶What drives the value of a Swiss collection agency?
Buyers price: (1) client mandates and their duration; (2) client concentration; (3) the recovery rate and age of the case portfolio; (4) data and scoring capabilities; (5) compliance with debt-enforcement and data-protection law; (6) the owner's role.
▶How big is the Swiss debt-collection sector?
BFS STATENT counts 140 collection agencies and credit bureaus with 2,051 employees in 2024 (1,717 full-time equivalents). The BFS does not publish the sector's revenue. The volume of work is measured by the debt-enforcement statistics: 3,031,541 payment orders in 2025.
▶Who are the main collection agencies and credit bureaus in Switzerland?
The largest are the Swiss companies of international groups: Intrum (Schwerzenbach) and EOS Schweiz (Kloten) in collection, and CRIF (Zurich) and Dun & Bradstreet Schweiz (Urdorf) in credit information. None of them publishes Swiss figures.
▶What are the key trends in Swiss debt collection?
Five trends: (1) since 2025 unpaid taxes against companies lead to bankruptcy — company bankruptcies rose 61.2% to 12,485; (2) more than 3 million payment orders a year; (3) wages are the main source of recovery; (4) losses in loss certificates rose 17.8% to almost CHF 1.8 billion; (5) fewer, larger firms.
▶What are the main risks when buying a Swiss collection agency?
The main risks are: (1) low recovery where debtors have no assets; (2) dependence on a few large clients; (3) regulation of fees and consumer protection; (4) data-protection rules for credit data; (5) reputational risk. Due diligence should check the portfolio's recovery history, client contracts and compliance.
▶What changed in Swiss debt enforcement in 2025?
Since 1 January 2025, the revised debt-enforcement law (SchKG) enforces unpaid public-law claims, such as taxes, against companies in the commercial register by bankruptcy instead of attachment. In 2025 company bankruptcies rose 61.2% to 12,485.
▶Where are Swiss collection agencies located?
About half the employment is in Zurich (1,054 employees in 2024), followed by Central Switzerland (371, mainly Zug and Schwyz), Eastern Switzerland (185), Northwestern Switzerland (171), Western Switzerland (169), Bern and Solothurn (70) and Ticino (24).