Office market: Vacancy rate to rise further in 2025 according to JLL

According to figures from JLL, the supply of available office space in Switzerland's five largest office markets - Zurich, Geneva, Bern, Lausanne and Basel - increased by 37,100 sqm (+4 %) in 2025 and now stands at 1,032,600 sqm. Since the end of 2019, the average supply ratio in the five largest Swiss office markets has grown almost steadily from 4.1 to 5.2 %. However, this increase is low compared to other European countries: the average office vacancy rate of 23 top markets in Europe rose from 5.2 % to 9.2 % in the same period. London has a vacancy rate of 9.1, Paris 11.0 %.

The comparative period is useful for assessing the impact of the home office trend on office vacancies. JLL researcher Daniel Stocker points out that 1.5 million sqm of new office space has come onto the market in the top 5 Swiss markets since 2019. If completions are taken into account, the increase in vacancies by the end of 2025 - an additional 267,700 sqm in absolute terms - is manageable.

Nevertheless, vacancy rates of over 10% can also be found in Switzerland, but only in individual submarkets. The negative leader is Opfikon/Glattbrugg (30.6 %), followed by Lausanne West/Crissier (15.0 %), the Geneva airport area (13.8 %), district 11 in the city of Zurich (11.9 %), Wallisellen (10.3 %) and the Kirchenfeld-Schosshalde district in Bern (9.9 %) and Kleinbasel West (9.6 %). However, there are also submarkets in which buyers encounter a shortage of supply: In the centers of Zurich, Bern, Lausanne, Lucerne, Zug, Lugano and Fribourg, the supply ratios are only between 0.8 % and 2.6 %.

Zurich: Stable vacancy rate in the region

The Zurich region recorded an unchanged supply ratio of 5.3 % compared to the previous year. However, there were significant shifts within Zurich. In the central district 1 and the districts 2, 4, 5, 6 and 8 bordering the city center, the supply of available office space fell by over 35,000 sqm. In turn, office vacancies in district 11 increased by more than 50,000 sqm and rose to 11.9 %. «The thinned-out construction pipeline 2026 to 2028 with only just under 71,000 sqm of planned office space and further efforts to convert current office buildings could lead to available office space in Zurich becoming a rare commodity again in the medium term,» says JLL. JLL lists the letting of 2,500 sqm by Meta in «Sihlcity» and a further 10,000 sqm in the planned «Lake Campus» on Mythenquai as notable letting deals of the past year (IB reported) on.

Geneva: Slight increase in office supply

The office market in the Geneva region showed a slight increase in available supply from 6.2 to 6.6%. JLL registered a high level of activity there with relocations, departures, renovations, conversions and the development of new districts such as Praille-Acacias-Vernet, PAV. There is a noticeable trend for companies to consolidate scattered locations in modern buildings. However, according to JLL, space that has become vacant can be let promptly and temporarily, as was the case in Rue de la Gabelle 1 (12,000 sqm), for example.

Bern: High dynamics due to wave of relocations

In the Bern region, the supply ratio increased minimally from 2.4 % to 2.5 % within a year. However, JLL diagnoses a market that is on the move - due to more construction activity (especially in the north and west) and a wave of relocations. Insurance companies Vaudoise and Zurich are already working in new offices. Relocations are also imminent, such as for SRG, which is giving up its headquarters on Giacomettistrasse at the end of 2026 and relocating to Schwarztorstrasse. The Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) is moving into a renovated building at Mühlestrasse 2 in Ittigen and giving up two locations at Worblentalstrasse 68 in Ittigen and Monbijoustrasse 40 in Bern. The Swiss Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training is moving into the second building. The former BLS building on Europaplatz will in future serve as the headquarters of the Federal Finance Administration and the General Secretariat of the Department of Finance. And the DDPS is planning to move into a new building on Guisanplatz this year.

Lausanne: Significant increase in vacancies

The office supply in the Lausanne region has increased significantly compared to the previous year, from 3.8 to 5.2 %. JLL registered more vacancies, particularly in peripheral areas with suboptimal transport links. In the city of Lausanne, the supply situation in the previous year was quite tight at 1.9 %. With a vacancy rate of 3.3 %, the situation is now somewhat more relaxed. There are 19,500 sqm of vacant office space in the CBD. The increase in supply was partly due to the fact that 6,000 sqm is now available in the newly renovated Hôtel des Postes.

Basel: Office market with high absorption

The office vacancy rate fell slightly both in the Basel region and in the city center itself. The vacancy rate now stands at 5.9 %. Office space was absorbed by BeOne Medicines, Genedata, Bechtle and the Presidential Department of Basel-Stadt, among others. Various projects were launched (Swiss Post/SBB, Lonza, Roche), meaning that the recent slowdown in new construction activity in the city of Basel will pick up again. At the same time, the main campus of the Switzerland Innovation Park Basel Area in Allschwil is continuing to develop. In the last four years, 87,000 sqm of office and laboratory space has been created, and a further 58,000 sqm can be built by 2030.

Mixed outlook

In its outlook, JLL points out that less new office space will be created overall between 2026 and 2028. On the demand side, however, the conditions for growth do not look particularly good: «After years of constant growth in employment, which supported demand for office space, this slumped in 2025 and is forecast to remain low this year,» it says. However, the uncertainty that the need for space in a world with hybrid forms of work will be massively reduced has now «subsided somewhat» in this country. (aw)