Switzerland among the best European countries for start-ups

The best European countries for startups have highly educated populations, strong economies, healthy business environments and relatively low costs for conducting business. With this in mind, NimbleFins' scoring system uses relevant publicly-available data to rank each country across several categories. NimbleFin is a research and data-driven personal finance site based in London.

Germany ranks as the best European country for startups for the second year running, standing out for a healthy economy (GDP of $3,846 billion) and favourable business climate. The United Kingdom remains in the 2nd spot for 2020 as a great place for startups due to venture capital accessibility and relative ease of doing business, despite relatively low GDP growth expectations. 

Switzerland moved up in the standings for 2020, claiming 3rd place out of the 31 countries studied (2019: 4th), as a result of ranking 1st in two categories: Business Climate and Labour Force Quality. Businesses report having the least issue with regulatory burden compared to other European countries (a new metric for 2020), and Switzerland has the best market dominance conditions making it easier for new market entrants, contributing to their strong Business Climate score.

Switzerland has the highest score for the extent of staff training and quality of vocational training, not to mention the 2nd highest percentage of people having achieved a tertiary education (38.6%). However, Switzerland is one of the more expensive places to start a business due to high costs of living and salary expectations, and it has one of the lowest expectations for GDP growth.

Switzerland 
Rank overall: 3
Economic Health Rank: 6
Cost of Doing Business Rank: 25
Business Climate Rank: 1
Labor Force Quality Rank: 1

The top 5 of the ranking are completed by the Netherlands and Ireland.