During the week from 16 to 22 November included (week 47), the business courts pronounced 126 bankruptcies, resulting in a total of 239 job losses.
The figures for week 47 reveal a stabilisation of the number of bankruptcies compared to the previous week (+5), while the number of job losses has decreased (-291).
After 47 weeks in 2020, 6,535 bankruptcies have been registered. This means that the number of bankruptcies is respectively 25.9% and 30.6% lower compared to the same period in 2018 and 2019.
Finally, the ratio job losses per bankruptcy for the 47 first weeks of the year is higher in 2020 than in 2018 and 2019 and stands at 2.48. So this means that during this period, a bankruptcy resulted in more job losses in 2020 than in 2018 or 2019.
Evolution of the number of bankruptcies and job losses per year until week 47 of the year
| Category | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2020/2019 | 2020/2018 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bancruptcies | 8,814 | 9,413 | 6,535 | -30.57% | -25.86% |
| Job losses | 15,354 | 18,259 | 16,177 | -11.40% | +5.36% |
| Job losses/Bancruptcies | 1.74 | 1.94 | 2.48 | +27.62% | +42.10% |
This is what emerged from the weekly bankruptcy figures produced by Statbel based on the orders of business courts. These interim weekly estimates make it possible to quickly observe the first trends.