Bankruptcies on a monthly basis

March 2025: 1,055 bankruptcies

Enterprises
March 2025: 1,055 bankruptcies

In March 2025, 1,055 bankruptcies were registered by the business courts. This is a 7.2% increase compared to February 2025 (984).

Statbel, the Belgian statistical office, also publishes a detailed report with the major developments of the monthly figures on bankruptcies. This report is available here (NL - FR).

The number of bankruptcies registered in March 2025 is higher than in the same month in 2024 (+3.0%) and in 2023 (+15.0%). This is the highest value in March in Belgium since 2015 (1,134).

At regional level, the number of bankruptcies increased compared to February 2025 in the Walloon Region (+24.8%) and in the Flemish Region (+9.8%). This number has also increased in the Flemish Region and in the Brussels-Capital Region compared to both March 2024 and March 2023. This is actually the highest value in March in the Flemish Region since the previous record in 2024 (628 versus 594), while we have to go back to March 2022 to see a higher number of bankruptcies in that month in the Brussels-Capital Region (203 versus 165).

Since the beginning of this year, the business courts pronounced 1,749 bankruptcies in the Flemish Region. This value exceeds the previous record registered in 2024 (1,726) by 1.3%.

Furthermore, the number of bankruptcies registered in March 2025 has increased in six economic sectors compared to February 2025. Three of these economic sectors also registered a higher number than in both March 2024 and March 2023:

  • construction with 266 bankruptcies, or the highest number in that sector for March, since the previous record in March amounted to 210 bankruptcies in 2015;
  • manufacturing, energy with 51 bankruptcies, where we have to go back to 2014 to see a higher number during that month (60);
  • agriculture and fisheries, where 16 bankruptcies were registered, or the highest number in March since the previous record in 2019 (11).

After three months in 2025, the number of bankruptcies registered in Belgium is a record in three economic sectors:

  • construction with 742 bankruptcies, or 13.6% more than in 2024 (653), the previous record;
  • transportation and storage where 193 bankruptcies were registered, which is a 9.7% increase compared to the previous record in 2024 (176);
  • professional, scientific and technical activities with 234 bankruptcies, or 2.6% more than in 2024 (228).

Job losses

As regards the number of job losses[1] registered in March 2025, it amounts to 2,745, or an increase of 6.7% compared to February 2025 (2,573). It is also an increase of 32.4% compared to March 2024 and of 41.5% compared to March 2023. We have to go back to March 2019 to see a higher number of job losses in Belgium in that month (3,160).

The number of job losses registered in March 2025 increased compared to February 2025 in the Brussels-Capital Region (+1.8%) and in the Flemish Region (+21.7%). Only in this latter region does this number increase compared to both March 2024 (+81.4%) and March 2023 (+61.0%). . We have to go back to 2019 to see a higher number of job losses in March in the Flemish Region (2,215 versus 1,906).

Finally, the number of job losses registered in March 2025 increased in five economic sectors compared to February 2025. Four of these economic sectors also registered a higher number than in both March 2024 and March 2023:

  • trade with 760 job losses, or the highest number in that month since the previous record in 2014 (663);
  • construction where 593 job losses were registered, or the highest number in March since 2014 (675);
  • transportation and storage with 321 job losses, or the highest number in that month since the previous record in 2022 (242);
  • agriculture and fisheries with 17 job losses, where we have to go back to 2022 to see a higher number during that month (56).

In addition to this press release and the supplementary report (NL - FR) where the period analysed covers 2013 to 2025, Statbel also publishes more detailed monthly figures which can be broken down by municipality, by NACEBEL 2008 class or even dated back to the year 2000 for bankruptcies and to 2005 for job losses. These figures are available on be.STAT via the tab ‘Figures’ of this publication.

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.


[1] Job losses are the sum of 3 separate categories (full-time job losses + part-time job losses + job losses for salaried employers). However, following this publication, Statbel decided to harmonise the rule for estimating the number of salaried employers in the bankruptcy statistics with that of the other statistics published by Statbel.
This update implies a temporary break between the number of job losses published and revised. More detailed explanations of this change in method are available in the documents tab.

Purpose and brief description

Every month, Statbel calculates the bankruptcy figures for the previous month. The figures are published around 15 days after the reference month. In addition to the monthly figures, Statbel can also make interim weekly estimates. These weekly figures make it possible to quickly observe the first trends. In addition to the figures on the number of bankruptcies, Statbel also always calculates the related job losses. For the job losses, Statbel uses the latest information available from the NSSO.

The bankruptcy statistics produced by Statbel are based on data from the Crossroads Bank of Enterprises (CBE) and the statistical business register. When interpreting the figures, account should be taken of the fact that there is some delay between the cessation of the economic activity and the declaration of bankruptcy by the business court. As a result, an economic impact is only visible in the figures with some delay.

Because of the measures taken during the Covid-19 crisis and the related lockdown, business courts and registries limited their activities until 18 May 2020. Furthermore, until 17 June 2020, a temporary moratorium was in force in order to protect the enterprises that were in good health before 18 March 2020 against the consequences of the Covid-19 crisis.

Then, on Friday 6 November 2020, the government approved a new moratorium on bankruptcies until 31 January 2021 in order to protect enterprises that were obliged to temporarily close their doors following the ministerial decree published on 1 November 2020 amending the ministerial decree of 28 October 2020 on emergency measures to limit the spread of the coronavirus (Covid-19).

As compensation for the end of this second moratorium, the government implemented a reform based on 3 pillars in order to make the access to the procedure for judicial reorganisation more flexible. First, the procedure was simplified, by no longer requiring enterprises to give immediately 11 documents, but only 3. The other documents can be delivered during the procedure. Second, the procedure no longer requires a publication in the Belgian Official Journal, which allows the mediator to meet with creditors in complete discretion and thus prevent them from demanding the rapid repayment of their claims before an agreement has been reached. Third, the procedure for judicial reorganisation by amicable agreement are encouraged by a tax exemption that was until then only applied to procedures for judicial reorganisation by court order. The provisions relating to the first two pillars of the reform would initially be in force up to and including 30 June 2021, but were extended until 16 July 2022 by the Royal Decree of 24 June 2021 extending Articles 2, 4 and 12 of the law of 21 March 2021 amending Book XX of the Code of Economic Law and the Income Tax Code 1992.

Between the two moratoriums, the tax administration and the NSSO spared, by a de facto moratorium, enterprises by not declaring them bankrupt due to tax and social debts. This system also remained in force after 1 February 2021 until October 2021 as far as the NSSO is concerned, while it is still in force for the tax administration.

Moreover, the judicial summer recess takes place in the months of July and August. The courts remain open during this period, but the number of hearings are reduced. That is why the bankruptcy rates are lower in this period.

Moreover, several measures were in force - at federal, regional and local level - to support enterprises during the Covid-19 crisis period. For example, the NSSO granted amicable payment plans with a maximum duration of 24 months for the payment of all contributions and sums due for the year 2020. And at the level of the National Employment Office, the entire temporary unemployment due to the coronavirus or the conflict in Ukraine could be considered as temporary unemployment due to force majeure ‘corona’ until 30 June 2022.

Finally, new support measures emerged recently to support companies during the energy crisis. At the level of the NSSO, enterprises can apply for an amicable payment plan, among other things, while energy-intensive companies can make use of a special system of temporary unemployment due to economic causes for energy-intensive companies.

All these public measures described above have had a moderating impact on the number of bankruptcies declared since March 2020.

Population

Enterprises subject to the law of 11 August 2017 adding a new Book XX ‘Insolvency of Enterprises’ to the Economic Law Code, and introducing the definitions specific to Book XX and the implementing provisions specific to Book XX in the Book I of the Economic Law Code, as published in the Belgian Official Journal on 11 September 2017. Title VI of Book XX contains the rules on bankruptcy.

Frequency

Monthly

Timing of publication and revision

The publication of the monthly bankruptcy figures takes place around 15 days after the reference month. With each publication, the figures for the previous three months are revised. However, figures prior to January 2025 are not revised.

Definition

Bankruptcy

An enterprise is bankrupt if two conditions are met: on the one hand, the enterprise has ceased to pay, i.e. it no longer pays its creditors. On the other hand, the loans to the enterprise have also stopped. In other words, the company has lost the trust of its creditors. The bank then refuses, for example, to grant it a new loan. A bankruptcy always concerns one enterprise. Thus, a legal arrangement in which several persons set up a company, such as a general partnership, can only lead to one bankruptcy.

Job losses

Full-time and part-time job losses come from the NSSO. They are determined on the basis of the last known situation of the enterprise, i.e. at the time of the bankruptcy. The total of job losses is the sum of 3 separate categories (full-time job losses + part-time job losses + job losses for salaried employers).

Salaried employers are employers who pay themselves a salary. The information on this number of salaried employers is not available at the NSSO, so Statbel has to estimate them.

In order to harmonise the new calculation rules used in the bankruptcy statistics with those of the other statistics published by Statbel (e.g. business demography, enterprises subject to VAT, etc.), the number of salaried employers is now estimated based on the method from the ESA 2010 regulation, applied by Eurostat, for the following categories of enterprises:

Self-employed: 1 salaried employer

Partnership and other legal forms: 2 salaried employers

Limited Liability Company: 1 salaried employer when there is no employment at the NSSO

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