146 bankruptcies in week 13

Enterprises
146 bankruptcies in week 13

During the week from 29 March to 4 April included (week 13), the business courts pronounced 146 bankruptcies. This is the highest number of bankruptcies registered on a weekly basis in 2021. These 146 bankruptcies resulted in 537 job losses, which is also an increase in comparison with the previous week.  

During the first 13 weeks of 2021, the business courts pronounced 1,577 bankruptcies. This figure is 40% lower than in the first 13 weeks of 2020. However, job losses per bankruptcy are 23% higher in 2021 than in the previous year. So during the first 13 weeks of 2021, there were 2.5 job losses per bankruptcy while this ratio amounted to 2.0 during the same period in 2020.     

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

The number of bankruptcies and job losses for the first 13 weeks of the year

Category 2019 2020 2021 2021/2020 2021/2019
Bancruptcies 2,703 2,632 1,577 -40.08% -41.66%
Job losses 5,989 5,349 3,941 -26.32% -34.20%
Job losses/Bancruptcies 2.22 2.03 2.50 +22.97% +12.79%