382 enterprises were declared bankrupt in Belgium in August 2020.
Bankruptcies registered in August resulted in 1,936 job losses: 1,050 full-time jobs, 738 part-time jobs and 148 salaried employers.
The sectors with the highest numbers of bankruptcies in August: 135 bankrupt enterprises in transportation and other service activities, 95 in trade , 67 in accommodation and food service activities and 60 in construction.
At regional level, there were 218 bankruptcies in Flanders, 103 in Wallonia and 61 in Brussels.
When interpreting the figures, account should be taken of the fact that there is a certain delay between the termination of the economic activity and the notification of bankruptcy by the business court. As a result, the economic impact is only reflected in the figures after a certain period of time.
Moreover, because of the Covid-19 crisis and the related lockdown, business courts and registries limited their activities until 18 May. A temporary moratorium was also in force until 17 June 2020 in order to protect enterprises that were healthy before 18 March 2020 from the effects of the Covid-19 crisis
Since then, business courts have gradually resumed their activities, but, for July and August, the judicial recess should be taken into account when interpreting the figures. Courts remain open during this period but the number of hearings is reduced. The public measures described above and the recess have probably had a mitigating effect on the number of bankruptcies pronounced from March to August.
Furthermore, many measures are still in force - at federal, regional and local level - to support enterprises in this crisis period. Examples are the deferment of payment of social security contributions (until 15 December 2020) and of the annual company contribution (until 31 October 2020).