The commercial register lists 2 369 active companies in industry and manufacturing in the canton of Fribourg, placing Fribourg 13th nationally for this sector (4 % of the national total). 1 730 of them (73 %) are VAT-registered, and 728 (31 %) published an official change in the past 18 months: registration, amendment, change of officers, share capital or address.
The first email goes out within the minute, with the last 30 days of your perimeter: new registrations, changes of officers, moves, capital. Then two morning emails with only what has moved since, as soon as there is something new. No account, no password.
Industry can be spotted in the register through its capital increases, changes of management and branch openings: all signals of investment or succession. Manufacturing SMEs are natural customers for fiduciaries, insurers, equipment suppliers and recruiters.
This sector accounts for 10 % of companies classified in the canton of Fribourg, against 9 % across Switzerland. 7 companies in industry and manufacturing were registered in the canton of Fribourg over the past 30 days, 32 over 90 days.
Fribourg is a bilingual canton with a diversified economy: food and beverages (cheese, chocolate, brewing), industry and logistics along the A12, a university and higher-education institutions in the city, and a strong fabric of construction and crafts SMEs across the districts. Population growth feeds a steady flow of new registrations.
Swiss manufacturing brings together 40,823 establishments and 683,630 jobs, making it the country's largest private employer after trade. It lives on exports (CHF 287 billion in 2025, of which CHF 152 billion in chemicals and pharma) and has been running a two speed cycle since 2024: life sciences growing, machinery and watches under pressure.
Swiss industry is an assembly of high value niches. Computer, electronic and watch products (division 26) account for 119,010 jobs across 2,117 establishments, machinery and equipment (28) for 79,054 jobs, pharma (21) for 55,218 jobs in only 377 establishments, and food (10) for 82,652 jobs in 4,845 establishments, according to the 2024 business census.
The structural contrast matters for any seller. Pharma concentrates very large headcounts on a handful of sites (Roche, Novartis, Lonza, CSL Behring), with highly formalised procurement. Machinery, metalworking and mechanical subcontracting instead line up thousands of SMEs of 20 to 200 people, often family owned, where the owner or the production manager decides.
Geographically, Bern (5,187 establishments and 80,808 jobs) and Zurich (5,401 and 79,912) lead by volume, ahead of St. Gallen (2,983 and 62,388), Aargau (2,987 and 58,580) and Vaud (3,412 and 41,412). Two cantons stand out for extreme specialisation: Neuchatel, where division 26 concentrates 16,857 jobs, and Basel-Stadt, where pharma alone carries 17,018 jobs across 33 sites.
Foreign trade held up in 2025. The Federal Office for Customs and Border Security recorded CHF 287 billion of exports, up 1.4% and a record level, against CHF 232.7 billion of imports and a surplus of CHF 54.3 billion. Chemicals and pharma contributed CHF 152 billion, 53% of the total, while machinery and electronics fell 0.6% and watches 1.7%.
Machinery faces a harder cycle. Swissmem reports for 2025 exports of CHF 68.1 billion (+0.7%), turnover down 0.3% and order intake up 1.4%, with an acceleration in the third and fourth quarters. Employment fell to 322,900 people in the fourth quarter, 6,600 positions fewer than a year earlier.
US trade policy dominated the agenda. MEM exports to the United States dropped 7.6% over the year and 18% in the fourth quarter, while the European Union grew 3.5%. After several months at 39%, US tariffs were cut to 15% following the declaration of intent of 14 November 2025, which came with an intention by Swiss companies to invest USD 200 billion in the United States by the end of 2028. The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs expects gross domestic product growth of 1.0% in 2026.
Swiss industry operates in a liberal framework that is nonetheless tightly regulated on export. The Federal Office for Customs and Border Security runs customs regimes and the proofs of origin of free trade agreements, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs controls dual use goods, Swissmedic authorises medical devices and medicines, and the product safety act governs market placement.
The umbrella bodies are Swissmem for machinery and metals, scienceindustries for chemicals and pharma, the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry and Swiss Textiles. The MEM industry collective agreement, negotiated between Swissmem and the unions, serves as a wage reference for a large part of the secondary sector.
On innovation, Innosuisse co finances projects run with universities and the Switzerland Innovation parks host applied research. The Swiss National Bank weighs indirectly on competitiveness through the level of the franc, the concern most often voiced by exporters.
Who buys what: industrial SMEs buy machine tools and automation, components and materials, maintenance, energy, logistics and freight forwarding, management systems (ERP, MES, quality), certification and audits, technical recruitment and training. Large pharma and food sites additionally buy process engineering, clean rooms, validation and compliance work.
Signals to watch: monthly foreign trade statistics and Swissmem quarterly surveys set the pace of the order book, collective redundancy notices and technical job postings reveal which sites are restructuring or strengthening, and ISO certifications or Swissmedic authorisations mark firms moving upmarket.
How ciblr helps: segment by NOGA division so a 40 person mechanical subcontractor is not confused with a 2,000 person pharma site, filter by canton to follow the real clusters (the watchmaking arc, the St. Gallen Rhine valley, the Rhone valley), and target the 20 to 249 employee band, where purchasing is centralised but the decision cycle stays short.
The detailed analysis of this market is being computed across the whole database; reload the page in a minute.
2 369 companies in industry and manufacturing are registered with the commercial register as active in the canton of Fribourg, or 4 % of the 65 555 companies in the sector across Switzerland.
1 730 of these companies (73 %) are VAT-registered according to the UID register, which generally indicates turnover above CHF 100 000 and genuine activity.
ciblr gives you three days of watch on this target: the last 30 days of movements within the minute, then two morning emails with what has moved, as soon as there is something new. The subscription at CHF 299 per month gives access to the whole target, with contact details, Excel export and change tracking.
Most recent SOGC publication captured for this canton: 2 days ago. 614 publications captured in the past 30 days. Company officers there are re-read directly in the cantonal commercial register.
Every company counted here is registered with the commercial register (Zefix) with the status "active". The sector is derived from the FSO's NOGA code, the size is estimated by ciblr from official publications (legal form, share capital, declared headcount, VAT registration), and "recent signal" means an SOGC publication (registration, amendment, change of officers, share capital or address) in the past 18 months. The figures are recalculated every week from the ciblr database. No data is purchased or invented.
ciblr sends you three days of watch of companies in industry and manufacturing in the canton of Fribourg: the last 30 days within the minute, then two morning emails, as soon as the perimeter moves. For the whole target, the subscription is CHF 299 per month, no commitment.
The same figures for neighbouring cantons, useful for regional prospecting.