During the week from 1 to 7 March included (week 9), the business courts pronounced 121 bankruptcies, resulting in a total of 187 job losses. So the number of bankruptcies remains in line with that of the previous weeks.
During the first nine weeks of 2021, the business courts pronounced 1,062 bankruptcies. This figure is 41 % lower than in the first nine weeks of 2020. However, job losses per bankruptcy are 22 % higher in 2021 than in the previous year. So during the first nine weeks of 2021, there were 2.5 job losses per bankruptcy while this ratio amounted to 2 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 9 weeks of the year
| Category | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2021/2020 | 2021/2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bancruptcies | 1,764 | 1,815 | 1,062 | -41.49% | -39.80% |
| Job losses | 3,253 | 3,701 | 2,644 | -28.56% | -18.72% |
| Job losses/Bancruptcies | 1.84 | 2.04 | 2.49 | +22.09% | +35.01% |