During the week from 17 to 23 May included (week 20), the business courts pronounced 92 bankruptcies, resulting in a total of 170 job losses. The number of bankruptcies in week 20 is in the same order of magnitude as in the previous week, while the number of job losses decreases.
During the first 20 weeks of 2021, the business courts pronounced 2,337 bankruptcies. This figure is 24.5% lower than in the first 20 weeks of 2020. However, job losses per bankruptcy are 14.1% higher in 2021 than in the previous year. During the first 20 weeks of 2021, 2.3 jobs were lost per bankruptcy while this ratio amounted to 2.0 in 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 20 weeks of the year
| Category | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2021/2020 | 2021/2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bancruptcies | 4,267 | 3,095 | 2,337 | -24.49% | -45.23% |
| Job losses | 8,634 | 6,301 | 5,430 | -13.82% | -37.11% |
| Job losses/Bancruptcies | 2.02 | 2.04 | 2.32 | +14.13% | +14.83% |