During the week from 9 to 15 January included (week 2), the business courts pronounced 142 bankruptcies, resulting in a total of 2,350 job losses.
This particularly high number of job losses is mainly due to the bankruptcy of a large enterprise in the trade sector.
The figures for week 2 reveal a stabilisation of the number of bankruptcies and an increase in the number of job losses compared to the previous week.
During the first 2 weeks of 2023, the business courts pronounced 280 bankruptcies. This figure is 17.6% higher than in the first 2 weeks of 2022.
The number of bankruptcies and job losses for the first 2 weeks of the year
| Category | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2023/2022 | 2023/2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bancruptcies | 258 | 208 | 231 | 238 | 280 | +17.6% | +8.5% |
| Job losses | 681 | 666 | 642 | 570 | 2,635 | +362.3% | +286.9% |
| Job losses/Bancruptcies | 2.64 | 3.20 | 2.78 | 2.39 | 9.41 | +292.94% | +256.5% |
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.