Statbel, the Belgian statistical office, publishes today in its Datalab the figures on VAT-registered enterprises, with provisional results 30 days after the reference month for December. With this publication, Statbel wants to better map the impact of the COVID-19 on the economic life. The NACE, the classification of economic activities, is also included.
Furthermore, Statbel continues to publish the final results 60 days after the reference month.
The movements observed in the population of VAT-registered units in December result in a decrease in the number of active enterprises compared to November 2020[1].
First registrations
In December 2020, first registrations for all sectors combined are up by 17.8 % compared to December 2019. That is 915 more births than last year in the same period.
Re-registrations
As for re-registrations, all Nace sections combined, we observe a 4.4 % increase compared to last year. This represents 26 enterprises.
De-registrations
In December 2020, the number of de-registrations increased by 2,150 units compared to December 2019 (+30.5 %). This phenomenon can be seen in all sectors, except for ‘Accommodation and food service activities’.
Evolution of the population of VAT-registered units
Despite the disturbances related to the crisis, results for December 2020 remain positive in terms of growth of the population of VAT-registered units over a year. We see a 4 % increase of the whole VAT-registered population, i.e. 40,143 more units than in December 2019.
[1] Note: this analysis is provisional and may be revised in a later publication when the population has stabilised.