In march 2018, 951 businesses in Belgium went bankrupt.
The bankruptcies resulted in a loss of 1,480 jobs: 754 full-time employees, 409 part-time employees and 317 salaried employers lost their jobs.
The number of bankruptcies in the last six months amounts to 5,548, a rise of 12.0% 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 22.5% In construction this number rose by 19.7%; whereas in commerce there was a rise by 12.9%. The hotel and catering industry rose by 3.5%. The number of bankruptcies in transportation and other services rose by 12.4%.
At regional level and in the same period there was a decrease by 5.0% in the Flemish Region, a rise of 4.5% in the Walloon Region and a rise of 60.1% in the Brussels-Capital Region.
| 2017 | 2018 | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MAR | APR | MAY | JUN | JUL | AUG | SEP | OCT | NOV | DEC | JAN | FEB | MAR | |
| TOTAL | |||||||||||||
| Total | 930 | 736 | 965 | 1 | 508 | 376 | 987 | 1 | 881 | 807 | 910 | 846 | 951 (100.0%) |
| ACTIVITY | |||||||||||||
| Agriculture and fishing | 4 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 2 (0.2%) |
| Industry, energy | 39 | 33 | 42 | 46 | 23 | 26 | 38 | 57 | 51 | 26 | 46 | 39 | 37 (3.9%) |
| Construction | 171 | 118 | 156 | 179 | 100 | 71 | 155 | 192 | 162 | 168 | 185 | 170 | 155 (16.3%) |
| Trade | 242 | 184 | 246 | 241 | 125 | 100 | 261 | 262 | 240 | 219 | 207 | 217 | 249 (26.2%) |
| Hotels and restaurants | 220 | 172 | 222 | 206 | 105 | 67 | 216 | 255 | 179 | 153 | 181 | 174 | 180 (18.9%) |
| Transport, other services | 254 | 224 | 298 | 341 | 152 | 111 | 310 | 383 | 244 | 237 | 284 | 241 | 328 (34.5%) |
| REGION | |||||||||||||
| Flemish | 483 | 357 | 405 | 455 | 268 | 190 | 454 | 506 | 419 | 305 | 400 | 379 | 409 (43.0%) |
| Walloon | 254 | 214 | 237 | 268 | 144 | 115 | 269 | 268 | 222 | 206 | 265 | 193 | 216 (22.7%) |
| Brussels | 193 | 165 | 323 | 294 | 96 | 71 | 264 | 379 | 240 | 296 | 245 | 274 | 326 (34.3%) |
| LEGAL FORM | |||||||||||||
| Sole proprietor | 182 | 132 | 167 | 167 | 114 | 75 | 153 | 203 | 151 | 145 | 168 | 154 | 134 (14.1%) |
| Public limited companies | 153 | 122 | 135 | 140 | 74 | 54 | 158 | 169 | 138 | 122 | 129 | 124 | 128 (13.5%) |
| Limited-liability companies | 565 | 464 | 627 | 672 | 303 | 239 | 656 | 747 | 563 | 499 | 581 | 536 | 668 (70.2%) |
| Co-operatives | 27 | 18 | 34 | 36 | 16 | 8 | 18 | 30 | 26 | 40 | 30 | 31 | 20 (2.1%) |
| Others | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 (0.1%) |