In april 2018, 784 businesses in Belgium went bankrupt.
The bankruptcies resulted in a loss of 1,374 jobs: 722 full-time employees, 337 part-time employees and 315 salaried employers lost their jobs.
The number of bankruptcies in the last six months amounts to 5,179, a rise of 8.6% compared to the same period last year.
In the last six months, compared to the same period last year, the number of failed businesses in the industry sector rose by 19.4% In construction this number rose by 19.1%; whereas in commerce there was a rise by 9.1%. The hotel and catering industry dropped by 2.3%. The number of bankruptcies in transportation and other services rose by 8.9%.
At regional level and in the same period there was a decrease by 7.6% in the Flemish Region, a rise of 1.1% in the Walloon Region and a rise of 57.2% in the Brussels-Capital Region.
| 2017 | 2018 | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| APR | MAY | JUN | JUL | AUG | SEP | OCT | NOV | DEC | JAN | FEB | MAR | APR | |
| TOTAL | |||||||||||||
| Total | 736 | 965 | 1 | 508 | 376 | 987 | 1 | 881 | 807 | 910 | 846 | 951 | 784 (100.0%) |
| ACTIVITY | |||||||||||||
| Agriculture and fishing | 5 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 5 (0.6%) |
| Industry, energy | 33 | 42 | 46 | 23 | 26 | 38 | 57 | 51 | 26 | 46 | 39 | 37 | 35 (4.5%) |
| Construction | 118 | 156 | 179 | 100 | 71 | 155 | 192 | 162 | 168 | 185 | 170 | 155 | 170 (21.7%) |
| Trade | 184 | 246 | 241 | 125 | 100 | 261 | 262 | 240 | 219 | 207 | 217 | 249 | 182 (23.2%) |
| Hotels and restaurants | 172 | 222 | 206 | 105 | 67 | 216 | 255 | 179 | 153 | 181 | 174 | 180 | 158 (20.2%) |
| Transport, other services | 224 | 298 | 341 | 152 | 111 | 310 | 383 | 244 | 237 | 284 | 241 | 328 | 234 (29.8%) |
| REGION | |||||||||||||
| Flemish | 357 | 405 | 455 | 268 | 190 | 454 | 506 | 419 | 305 | 400 | 379 | 409 | 369 (47.1%) |
| Walloon | 214 | 237 | 268 | 144 | 115 | 269 | 268 | 222 | 206 | 265 | 193 | 216 | 194 (24.7%) |
| Brussels | 165 | 323 | 294 | 96 | 71 | 264 | 379 | 240 | 296 | 245 | 274 | 326 | 221 (28.2%) |
| LEGAL FORM | |||||||||||||
| Sole proprietor | 132 | 167 | 167 | 114 | 75 | 153 | 203 | 151 | 145 | 168 | 154 | 134 | 147 (18.8%) |
| Public limited companies | 122 | 135 | 140 | 74 | 54 | 158 | 169 | 138 | 122 | 129 | 124 | 128 | 126 (16.1%) |
| Limited-liability companies | 464 | 627 | 672 | 303 | 239 | 656 | 747 | 563 | 499 | 581 | 536 | 668 | 489 (62.4%) |
| Co-operatives | 18 | 34 | 36 | 16 | 8 | 18 | 30 | 26 | 40 | 30 | 31 | 20 | 19 (2.4%) |
| Others | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 (0.4%) |